


Where Green Meets Red

by elfhunter05



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abusive Ron Weasley, Blinny, Cheating Ginny Weasley, Cheating Ron Weasley, F/M, Head Boy Draco Malfoy, Head Girl Hermione Granger, Hogwarts Eighth Year, dramione - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-07-15 09:13:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 20
Words: 25,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16060040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elfhunter05/pseuds/elfhunter05
Summary: Draco and Hermione have always had conflict.What happens when they fall in love?





	1. One

It was only a few mornings before school went back.

Harry and Hermione had both been staying with the Weasley's over the summer, as neither had a home to go back to.

It was a fairly calm morning, unusual for most family's but understandable in this situation. The 'Golden Trio' (Ginny included) was going back to Hogwarts to finish their last year and the nerves were so overwhelming that they all just stuck to quiet chatting.

Because of the war, Snape fleeing his post and the desperate needs of the school, Professor McGonagall finally received her well deserved role as Headmistress of Hogwarts.

Because of that, she had invited all the seventh year students to come back and retake their last year, to do all their N.E.W.T exams and final tests, along with the former sixth years, as a joint group.

So, the group of kids were sitting at the Weasley's table eating their breakfast, enjoying the peaceful morning, when a sudden Thump echoed around the room.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the source of the sound, curiosity covering their faces.

The noise they had heard was an owl, crashing into the kitchen window.

Molly moved from the stove and opened the other window to let the owl in.

"Stupid bird." She cursed to herself, going back to finish cooking the bacon.

The owl flew back in and dropped a stack of letters in front of the kids, each one was sealed with the Hogwarts stamp.

Once all the letters were untied from its leg and the owl had been fed, the snowy creature flew back out the window and off into the distance.

George picked up the stack of letters first, taking the remaining lot of string off and handed them all out.

"Ginny..." He started, handing her the yellowish envelope. "Harry..." He continued, reading off the inky green writing. "Ron..." The maroon Hogwarts seal, smooth under his fingers. "And Hermione." He finished.

The witch looked down at her letters.

There were two, identically the same.

She looked kind of confused but carried on opening the letters anyway.

The first one contained all the general information, what subjects and classes she had, all the spell books she'd need for the year and what was included in her uniform.

It wasn't long before all heads were turned to Hermione to see what her other letter was about.

She slowly slit open the top, peeled back the fold, and pulled out the letter, it read...

"To Miss Hermione Granger,

Because of your amazing talent and incredible attitude towards school, I have appointed you and Mr Neville Longbottom as the heads for this upcoming year at Hogwarts.

Sincerely Headmistress Minerva McGonagall".

Interesting.

"Well, congratulations dear-e," Molly said, reading off her shoulder.

"What'd' it say?" Ron butted in.

"I got head girl," Hermione replied, beaming with pride.

"Congratulations!" Ginny squealed.

The others all gave her pats on the back and praised her accordingly.

Hermione reached her hand into the envelope and pulled out a simple gold badge that read 'Head Girl'.

"Well now that all that's over and done with, I believe we need to take a trip to Diagon Alley. Who's in?" Arthur called out from the doorway.

Everyone's answer was the same.

So, one by one each person stepped into the fireplace and was sent off to Diagon Ally by floo.

~~~

"George!, Come help me with the books!" Molly's voice echoed around the bustling bookshop.

Harry took this opportunity to grab the others and use it as their chance to escape, Ginny tagged along too (which was never a problem) and they started walking down the street, finally able to relax and get away from the busy, stressful morning the four had to endure.

Hermione was walking alongside Harry and caught sight of Quality Quidditch Supplies out of the corner of her eye.

When she turned to point it out to the others, Hermione accidentally walked into someone and got knocked to the ground, very hard...

"I'm sorry." The two said in unison...

"Malfoy!"

"Granger?"


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco and Hermione have always had conflict. 
> 
> What happens when they fall in love?

"I'm sorry!" The two said in unison...

"Malfoy!"

"Granger?"

Ron bent over and reached out his hand to Hermione, she accepted and he pulled her into a protective hug.

"Keep your filthy self away from my girlfriend, ferret!" Ron snarled at him, venom lacing his words.

"Woah, Weasly got himself a girlfriend? What a surprise, he was the last one I thought who could do it." Draco teased, knowing that he would get a reaction out of the red-haired wizard.

"And what's that supposed to mean!?" Ron snapped, getting madder by the minute, ears turning pink.

"It's because your such a coward you wouldn't be able to have the courage to actually ask any girl out! I would bet that your Mudblood girlfriend here, just threw herself at you because she was sorry for you!" He hissed.

Draco walked up to Ron, looked down at him and smirked. "Jeez, Weasel, I didn't know you were that short." He mocked. It was thanks to that, Harry now had to hold back an angry redhead. And that was never fun.

But Draco was right, Ron was shorter than him. Only by an inch or two though. And the blonde wizard had definitely matured over the summer, his once slicked back, bleached blonde hair was now loose and had streaks of lightish brown in its roots. His supposed 'lanky' figure was now more muscle than anything. His shirt hung to his well-built frame, showing broad shoulders and a toned stomach, not to mention biceps that slightly strained the shirt's sleeve.

All the commotion though had obviously drawn attention and started to make a scene. People stopped to watch and some others were simply whispering to each other as they passed, sparing glances at the five, showing who it was they were talking about.

"Weasel, all that struggling you're doing is just making you look weak. Unable to escape Potter's grasp? Pathetic. No wonder girls throw themselves at Scar Head and not you, no one would ever want you." Draco spat, smirking as rage flooded Ron's faces.

"Why you little-" Ron started, lurching himself at Draco, slipping Harry's arms for just a moment before he caught the back of his shirt again, just in time. "I'm gonna get you Malfoy, you arse, and when I do, I'm gon-"

"- gonna what Weasley? You wouldn't be able to do anything to me! You're pa-"

"- WOULD YOU BOTH JUST SHUT UP FOR A MOMENT!" Ginny yelled at the boys, the little fight scene halted for a moment and all eyes were on Ginny and she breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. You guys are both making a scene." She eyed Draco maliciously. "And none of it is the good kind of attention that we want from any of you." She proceeded her scolding by grabbing each of the boys by their ear and yanked them close. "Plus, neither of you two idiots are going to get anything out of this so stop being self-absorbed pricks and grow the fuck up!" Ginny hissed, letting them go and turning back to Hermione.

Hermione was so close to bursting out with laughter as were many, many others. It was made especially hard when Ron stuck out his tongue at Ginny's back, immaturely, might I add and Draco discreetly flipped her off. Ginny, on the other hand, whizzed back around to the blonde and narrowed her eyes at his innocent complexion.

"If you plan on keeping your fingers intact, Malfoy, I'd strongly advise that you use them for better purposes." She mirrored his trademark smirk and stood back, watching his face contort with confusion.

Draco reaction to Ginny's little outburst was actually hilarious. He was mumbling something under his breath about her being a minx and never knowing how to back down 'as the stupid Gryffindor you are.' As he had put it.

Ginny didn't really care, and anyway, this had shut both boys up and cleared the situation.

Harry though, still had to grab Ron's shoulder and forced him to keep walking, ignoring the mumbled protests as he wanted to have another go at Draco.

"At least I actually have a girlfriend," Ron called over his shoulder, deliberately riling up the Slytherin. All he got in reply was a low grunt from Draco and this made him snicker.

"Come on guys. We have to go pick up the rest of our stuff." Hermione mumbled and the four walked on, trying to act like nothing happened.

When they were a fair distance away, Draco's facade dropped, the smirking, stuck up snob was gone and was quickly replaced with the despair and depression Draco had hidden within.

He shoulders slumped slightly and he silently, skilfully, made his way to an alley, not being seen or noticed by anyone or anything and disapparated.

~~~

Once all their school needs had been collected and desired items had been bought, each person came through the Burrow's fireplace one by one, brushing off the soot and moving out of the way before they got trampled by someone else.

It didn't take long and all were back, so the four ran up to their separate rooms to start packing for the newly awaited term.

"Hermione! Give me back my jacket", Harry called out from down the hallway.

"Harry! Where's my potions book?" Ron shouted.

"RONALD!! Stop. Stealing. My. Fluffy. Slippers." Ginny screeched.

Everyone poked out their heads into the hall and looked at Ron.

"What can I say? They are very comfortable." He said raising his hands in mock surrender. A steady laugh echoed throughout the four rooms and the packing continued.

~~~

"Bye Mum",  
"Bye Mrs Weasley"  
"BYE!"

Once all the goodbyes had been said, the four found a compartment, threw their bags up on the rack and sat down, just as the train had started moving.

The platform quickly rolled out of sight and they were travelling through the beautiful hills, their compartment peaceful at last.

Until someone decided to ruin it by knocking on the door.

Ginny clicked it open and Draco popped his head through. All heads snapped in his direction and each person gave him their own death stares. He just ignored them and carried on with his mission.

"Granger. Professor McGonagall needs you up the front of the train. It's about some head girl shit or what not." He stated dryly.

"Yep, alright, I'm coming." She replied, annoyed, as she got up and grabbed her bag.

Before leaving the compartment, Hermione took a quick look at Ron, his face was full of pure hate, anger and jealousy for the Slytherin. She brushed it aside by giving him an 'I'm sorry' look and continued out.

Although, as Hermione was walking down the aisle, she peeked over her shoulder and saw that Draco was still there.

"Why don't you go back and sit with your friends, you don't have to follow me, I know where I'm going." She said effortlessly as she continued walking, not bothering to look back again.

He grabbed her arm roughly, making her squeak and she stopped abruptly causing Draco to push her up against the wall unintentionally.

For some unknown reason though, he made no motion to move and instead decided to glare at her, holding the girl pinned to the wall.

"I've changed..." He started in a low growl. "I don't like many of my friends..." He continued. "And as for following you-" He got cut off as the door next to them flung open and the two quickly jumped apart.

"Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy, I was beginning to get worried." Professor McGonagall gushed. "Come in, Come in". The two followed the teacher into the compartment and sat down.

"So seeing as you two are 'head boy and head girl' for this year-" She tried, but was unfortunately cut off.

"-WHAT!?" Hermione screeched.


	3. Three

"So seeing as you two are 'head boy and head girl' for this year-" She tried but was unfortunately cut off.

"WHAT!?" Hermione screeched. Draco and Professor McGonagall both covered their ears and winced.

"Didn't you read the letter? it said that you and Mr Malfoy would be the 'Head Boy and Head Girl.'" She tried to reason with Hermione.

"No!" She half yelled. "The letter clearly read that Neville would be the head boy!!" She said calming down only slightly.

"Oh... Yes... Well... Umm... Neville... Didn't want to... Well... He didn't want all the responsibility that being head boy brings... he didn't trust himself... And Mr Malfoy was our second choice." She eventually explained.

"Oh." was all Hermione could manage.

"Yes, so with the-" Professor McGonagall once again tried but this time it wasn't Hermione. The compartment door had been thrown open and a young student was on the other side.

"SorryProfessorbutoneofthefirstyears aresickandneedyourhelpplease." A very excited third year gushed out.

"Ok, I'll be right there." She informed him. The kid ran off but Professor McGonagall quickly popped her head back in. "Please behave." Her tone pleading.

After that being said though, she shut the door and left.

The second McGonagall was out of earshot, Draco flicked the blind on the door shut and took a step towards Hermione.

Out of instinct, she shuffled back into the corner of the seat and he smirked.

"I didn't know that I scared you that much, Mudblood." He drawled.

"No... I just..." But she couldn't think of the right words to say and instead opted for scowling at him. 

"Well, you better get used to me." He mused, hands on hips as he turned around to sit down.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" She hissed in disgust, only just audible.

"Well, I would've thought that the brightest witch of our age would know that the 'Head Boy and Head Girl', get share a dormitory of their own. So, you really should get used to me." He smirked. Hermione let out a defeated sigh and stood up.

"Where are you going!" He snapped, jumping off the seat as well.

"I need to change, you idiot." She laughed at his stupidity, grabbing her bag from the overhead rack. "Unless you want to come that is?" She teased, giving him a wink, Draco blushed a dark shade of red and muttered some inchoate response and sat back down.

Hermione left the compartment laughing to herself. Draco, on the other hand, was absolutely embarrassed.

~~~

After Professor McGonagall had come back and run through all the rules and responsibilities with the two, the train had soon come to a stop at Hogsmeade station.

"First years this way!!" Hagrid bellowed, his voice rang out amongst the crowd and captured the attention of the youngest students as he tried to lead the eager children towards Draco.

The annoyed Slytherin was tapping his foot aimlessly while he waited for Hermione. His strained complexion and huffy attitude showed that Draco was clearly bored.

Hermione had just explained the whole 'Head boy' thing and the 'Sharing dormitories' thing to Harry and Ron, they were not happy!

"That's not fair!!" Harry yelled.

"If he lays a finger on you I'll kill him," Ron warned with a growl.

"She'll be fine," Ginny reassured her friends. "She's the brightest witch of our generation. I'm sure if Malfoy actually does anything, she will probably hex him to obliviation." Ginny teased, nudging Ron's arm with a smirk.

Hermione let out a laugh. But as all things must, her happiness was cut short when she saw that Draco was waiting, set with a heavy glare in her direction and she frowned.

Hermione bid her friends farewell and ran over to him.

"Took you long enough," Draco said flatly with a menacing scowl.

"I was busy." She replied, already annoyed and completely fed up with his stupid behaviour.

"Yeah... well... you could've at least hurried up. McGonagall reminded us several times we had to do this job." Draco hissed, voice rising to meet hers.

"Have you ever tried to learn how to have some patience? Maybe then, people would respect you more." Hermione stated.

"Well, maybe I wouldn't need patience if you knew how to tell the time, because then I wouldn't have needed to wait in the first place." He growled.

"You selfish bast-"

Hermione never got to finish her accusations because one of the first years cleared their throat.

"We're... gonna be late." They said quietly, hesitation in their voice.

"Right... Well... Let's get going then." Hermione said changing the subject, turning away from Draco and leading the first years to the boats.

Draco stood shocked for a moment before following Hermione reluctantly.


	4. Four

Hermione and Draco had gotten all the first years settled on the boats with Hagrid and started the walk over to the remaining carriage.

It was such a calm night that Hermione couldn't help but look up at the stars and smile.

If only life was that peaceful forever.

But as always, nothing ever lasts forever.

Hermione was pulled out of her trance by a sharp intake of breath and turned to see Draco, eyes wide and face ghostly pale (well, more pale than usual).

She raised an eyebrow and he gulped, pointing a shaky finger at something behind her. Hermione rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Nice try Malfoy, but I'm not falling for that one again." She said in a bitter tone. He simply shook his head, eyes glued to a creature behind the oblivious witch.

"I'm not joking, Granger. You need to move." He breathed, fear lacing his voice. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him sceptically.

"Why?"

But instead of Draco answering her question, something else did. Hermione felt something warm nuzzle into the crook of her neck and she stiffened up almost instantly.

Turning to the side slightly, Hermione caught sight of what Draco was talking about.

She would have called them horses, though there was something reptilian about them, too. They were completely fleshless, their black coats clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads were dragonish, and their pupil-less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither — vast, black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats.

Hermione's heart rate quickened as the strange beast sniffed at her hair.

Too scared it would attack if she moved, Hermione stood still. Hardly daring to breathe.

Draco finally came back down to earth and suddenly realised the situation.

It was a Thestral.

"Granger... Think of something happy." He spoke calmly, trying not to provoke the creature.

"Are you insane!?" She hissed. Draco saw a silent tear slide down her cheek and he tried again.

"You need to think of a happy memory... Like a Patronus." He instructed.

She tried thinking of all the times Ron and she had spent together. The Thestral nuzzled deeper.

She tried thinking about her friends and all of the happy moments they've all shared. The creature didn't budge.

Hermione looked over at Draco and something popped into her head.

"Hermione don't! He's not worth it!" Ron called out. 

The furious witch lowered her wand, turning back to her two best friends. 

She heard Draco snickering behind her and saw him laughing at her with his friends. 

That was it. 

WHACK. 

A sickening crack and Draco fell to the ground. Only to be quickly pulled back up by his friends, and run off back to the castle. 

"That felt good." She smiled. 

It worked.

The Thestral moved back from Hermione and she took a few steps away as well.

Draco walked up to her and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder sympathetically.

"You alright Granger?" He asked, hesitant. She turned to him and nodded slightly.

"Thank you." She smiled up at him.

Reality suddenly hit Draco like a truck and he felt the sudden need to shove her away, laugh at her for being so weak, or even tell her to get over it.

But he just couldn't.

So instead, he removed his hand from her shoulder wiped it on the edge of his robes and grimaced.

"Shit." He cursed. "Now I have your filthy Mudblood germs on my hand."

She frowned and stepped on his foot. Hard.

"Ow. Fuck. What in Merlin's name was that for? You bitch."

But his question was left unanswered as Hermione had already walked away and was climbing into the carriage.

Making sure to stay far away from the Thestral.

Draco came into the carriage a moment after Hermione an sat down across from her.

"That hurt." He said as they started moving.

"Don't care." She replied.

"... Your welcome, by the way." He said with a scowl.

"Oh yeah... How did you know about Thestrals?"

"I came across some information about them I a book, thought it looked interesting... So I read it." He shrugged casually. "They are meant to be like a comfort creature, for those who have seen death, but their looks don't really seem to fit the part."

"Yeah." She chuckled awkwardly.

The rest of the ride was silent. Neither person daring to speak, let alone even acknowledge each other's presence.

Sooner than expected, the Castles lights were in plain view and both felt a distinct sense of longing for the familiar feasts and classes and... Well... Hogwarts itself.

It was their home.

~~~

Both students came bounding into the Great Hall together and ran off to their separate tables.

Parting with only a silent glare each way.

Because the war, a lot of changes had happened. Hogwarts was no longer the school everyone young witch and wizard dreamed of coming to.

And so, not everyone who survived actually wanted to come back. Leaving the house tables quite a lot smaller than the previous years.

Hermione had sat down next to Ron, Harry and Ginny just in time to hear the sorting hat finish its song and see all the first years all pile into the hall, their faces all showing different versions of nerves and excitement.

"I still don't understand why we had to return," Ron mumbled to Harry. "We could've run off to become top-notch Aurors."

"Because your education is important Ron!" She hissed under her breath at the red-haired wizard.

"Okay okay, calm down woman!" He said raising his hands defensively.

"Sorry... I'm just really pissed right now." She gushed, eyebrows furrowed, looking down at the table as she picked at the stitching on her robes.

"Nah, no problem, I get it, Malfoys a prick, who would want to share a dorm with him!?" Ron said quietly with a laugh.

"Not. Helping. Ronald." Ginny loudly whispered to him, kicking his shin under the table.

"Ow." He narrowed his eyes at his sister, she flashed him an innocent smile and turned her focus back to the sorting ceremony, he followed suit, so did Hermione, but Harry, who had been listening to the conversation was preoccupied, watching Draco out of the corner of his eye.

A certain blonde had been looking at Hermione in a rather... Different? Sort of way.

"Hermione." Harry nudged her discreetly. "Malfoys looking at you." All four heads turned towards the Slytherin table and embarrassment flashed over Draco's face, as he quickly turned his head away, trying not to let them see it.

Unfortunately for him though, they all did.

"What was that about!?" Harry muttered under his breath.

"Maybe he likes you, Hermione." Ginny teased.

"Not Bloody Likely." Ron chuckled, "Besides, she's my girlfriend." He stated proudly, slipping an arm around Hermione's waist and pressing his lips to her cheek.

It took all of her self-control not to gag and wipe her face clean. Thankfully they all bought her fake happiness and the others smiled at the 'happy couple.'

In all honesty, it was more like a one-way relationship. Where Ron was left actually believing that Hermione was in love with him.

Ron's grip dropped suddenly to her arse, and Hermione let out a slight squeal at the sudden contact, hand dashing to her side to push him off.

Harry and Ginny (the oblivious idiots they were) just thought Ron was tickling her. So they chuckled and ignored Ron's discreet, vulgar actions. 

When the red head's grip tightened though, she gave another frantic attempt at shoving him away. But she slipped and her hand accidentally brushed over his crotch.

He flushed a soft pink, letting go of Hermione and instead tried to hide the forming bulge between his legs.

Hermione already felt sick to her stomach at what he had done, and seeing this situation just made it worse.

"You owe me later." He whispered huskily in her ear, bringing the girl out of her trance. Hermione turned pale and looked away, he smirked, knowing very well that he had just won his personal victory.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Great Hall, Draco had been watching this scene, and for some strange reason, it made him very angry thinking about how awful Ron treats Hermione. 

But that led him to another burning question...

'Since when did he actually care!?'


	5. Five

The welcoming feast had come to an end not long after it had started. Leaving many students (and teachers) round-bellied and exhausted.

When everyone was leaving the Great Hall for bed, Professor McGonagall signalled for Hermione and Draco to stay behind.

Hermione looked over at Harry and Ginny with an apologetic smile.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow at breakfast." She reassured her friends, giving them both an awkward side hug.

"Just... Be careful, alright?" Harry said nervously. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Oh, Harry! I've told you a thousand times. She'll be fine. Now come on love, let's give her some time with Ron." Ginny rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's stubborn behaviour. Hermione simply just smiled.

Why couldn't she and Ron be like that? Those two were so cute. They were never pressuring each other into paths that they weren't ready for. 

And they were always there for one another, no matter what the situation was.

Harry sighed. Ginny was right. He could trust Hermione. It was just Malfoy he had to look out for.

He would be able to trust Hermione. Right?

Giving Hermione another protective, brotherly hug. He reluctantly let go and suffered having to endure Ginny dragging him out of the Great Hall, lecturing him on how he needs to learn to trust his friends more.

Ron took his chance and looked around the Hall.

McGonagall was the only teacher left and she had her back to the four house tables.

All the other students had left for bed.

It was his perfect opportunity.

The red-haired wizard grabbed Hermione's wrist, digging his chubby fingers into her delicate forearm and pulled her towards him.

He roughly smashed his lips against Hermione's and the poor girl grimaced. His free hand somehow snuck it's way to the back of her neck and yanked her head back by her hair.

He then proceeded by leaving a trail of sloppy kisses down the side of her neck and she squirmed with discomfort.

Ron, however, thought that she squirmed with pleasure. So he roughly bit down on the junction between her neck and shoulders.

A couple of silent tears raced down Hermione's face. But she covered them up before he could see.

At last Ron pulled away and released Hermione's hair. She discreetly pulled her aching wrist away from his vice grip and bid him goodnight before he left the Great Hall in silence.

He blunt fingernails had left half-moon prints on her skin when he had finally let go. The new red marks covered over the fading ones from all the previous times he's grabbed her roughly like that and forced the witch into his personal relief.

And each time he did it left more marks.

What he didn't know though, was that Draco had actually seen this entire little show.

And it boiled his blood to see the 'Weasel' being so cruel to Hermione. She didn't deserve any of this.

Draco would get to the bottom of this.

Gathering the two teen's attention, McGonagall turned around to call Draco and Hermione over to her.

Professor McGonagall led them out of the hall, took Draco and Hermione up to the third-floor corridor and down to the far end.

She finally stopped the two in front of a portrait on the end.

It was a portrait of Professor Snape.

Even though he had heard them approaching, Snape had his back facing the teens.

"Password..." He had started in a dull tone, turning around in his chair to face them. But seeing who the Heads were, Snape lightened up slightly. "Oh! Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy, it is a pleasure to see you again." He smiled flatly at the two.

"Good to see you again Professor," Hermione replied cheerfully.

Draco just agreed with a slight head nod and kept his face down, he was feeling embarrassed and humiliated. 

Here he was, standing in front of the portrait of his own Godfather, with two Gryffindors, feeling all smart for getting Head Boy, when all he wanted to do was get everything off his chest.

And that's what Snape had always been for.

Snape, whether he knew it or not, had been Draco's only safe place for the last few years.

And now that something really stupid was troubling him, Draco had no one to vent to. 

Hermione nudged Draco's shoulder with her own discreetly and gave him a glare, but unfortunately, Professor McGonagall stepped in before anything too serious could happen.

"You will have enough time to bicker and argue, inside the dorm." She reminded her Heads. "But for now... Pumpkin Pasties." 

Snape nodded and the portrait instantly swung open. McGonagall turned to the two.

"Go settle in and unpack, there are classes tomorrow, and you'll need your sleep for the early prefect's meeting in the morning." The Headmistress stated. "There is a list of rules on the wall." She looked at Hermione with a small smile. "And I expect this place to stay neat and organised." She warned, eyebrows raised.

"Yes, Miss."

"Goodnight." She said softly, turning on her heal and walking away. The only sound was her shoes tapping on the stone floors.

Hermione and Draco stood outside the room for a moment and looked at each other hesitantly.

"Are you going to go in?" Snape urged them eagerly.

The two looked at each other and shrugged nonchalantly, walking into their dorm.

There was a large couch that spread along the room, enough space to fit about five people, a small kitchen area off in the corner, and two doors on the wall at the back.

Draco bound up to the bedroom on the left and slammed the door shut tight.

'Well, I guess I'll take the other one then." Hermione thought to herself with a sigh.

She walked up to the bedroom door on the right and saw the small, shiny, golden sign at the top of the door...

Head Boy

...'Oh Shit." She mentally cursed to herself knowing that Draco was in her dorm and what was packed in her suitcase would not be the best thing for Malfoy to see.

She flew like the wind over to the other door, sprinting as fast as she could...

... And prayed that it wasn't too late.

(Draco's POV)

I slammed the door shut and took a look around the room, it wasn't too bad, all themed around the Hogwart's colours and stuff.

I honestly didn't care. But it was always good to be able to get away from Goyle's snoring, Theo's slags and Blaise's constant complaining for a while.

And the room was about the same size as my old Slytherin dorm, just for the one bed though.

I went over to the suitcase on the bed, it was a bit battered on the edges.

'Probably the train.' I presumed, continuing to open it up anyway. I had just undone the clasps when I realised something...

The initials on the side were definitely not mine...

 

H.G.

 

"Bloody Granger," I mumbled aloud to myself. Then I noticed that my hand was still resting on the handle.

A self-respecting gentleman would keep her belongings private...

But he was a Malfoy, He was none of those things, he wanted to find something to make fun of her for.

So...

He opened the case...

And what Draco found shocked him...

It was very unexpected...

It was very curious...

It was very... Un-Granger like...


	6. Six

It was very... Un-Granger like...

(No one's POV)

Draco had undone the clasps and opened up the battered suitcase.

Unfortunately for Hermione though, the items sitting on top just happened to be a bright red lacy bra and matching, lacy panties.

Curse you, Ginny Weasley.

Draco eyed the clothing curiously. Just the thought of any girl wearing this made his cock twitch in excitement.

'Why would Granger own anything like this?' He wondered to himself, holding it up. A sudden thought popped into his head, distracting all the questions.

"The good girl Granger has a secret." He mumbled under his breath.

Hermione, however, burst through the door seconds later, only to find him holding up her underwear smirking. She visibly paled and her bottom lip trembled.

"So this." Draco teased menacingly, nodding his head at the undies. "Is what you decide to be 'essential' to bring to Hogwarts?" He asked giving an awful laugh.

She flushed the same shade as the clothing in his hand, snatched it away from him and shoved it back into her suitcase, slamming the lid with a thud.

"You have some explaining to do." He hissed, hands on hips and all. "The famous bookworm, prude extraordinaire, goody two shoes, teacher suck up, actually isn't any of those titles at all!?"

Hermione gave a heavy sigh. "They're not mine." She muttered softly. "Well... They are... But not in the way you'd think."

Draco raised his eyebrows, urging her to go on. She simply glared at him in return.

"Ginny gave them to me... Told me I'd thank her one day... I refused to bring them through and gave it back to her. She obviously must have thought it would be funny to sneak them into my case at the last second... And to be honest... I didn't actually know they were there until I was on the train this morning." Hermione finished quietly, looking down embarrassed.

Draco had a smirk plastered on his face, and he let out a wicked laugh. "Well, do you want me to tell the whole school about your little secret?"

The poor girl's eyes widened as her head shot up and she shook it violently.

"Then I want you to wear them for me." He leaned in really close...

"And only me," Draco added in a seductive tone.

Hermione looked mortified. "What's wrong Granger? Lost your Gryffindor courage?" He scoffed with a sly grin. "I wouldn't be surprised. All girls give in to my irresistible Malfoy charm eventually. What can I say? I'm gorgeous."

"Y-you..." She was speechless. Absolutely speechless.

"M-me." he imitated her stumbling self.

"Get out!" She growled, the anger boiling rapidly inside her.

"You won't be saying that when you're in my bed later, in fact, I believe it will be quite the opposite," Draco smirked, sending Hermione a flirtatious wink.

That was the last straw for Hermione. She stormed up to the blonde and grabbed his tie, roughly yanking his head down to her face level.

"You are an arrogant bastard Malfoy." She screamed.

"And that's why you love me." He purred in her ear, knowing very well that he was pushing his luck way too far over the line with a certain, already pissed off witch.

Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously as her knee came in contact with a certain sensitive area of his.

Hard.

Draco fell to the floor with a thud, eyes watering and breathing ragged.

"You fucking Mudblood!" He hissed in agonising pain. "I was only messing around! There was no need to lose your fucking temper!"

Her mouth hung agape.

"Lose my- Lose my temper!? I had all the needs to lose my temper, you were being a selfish prick!"

Draco stood up with a grimace and walked up to Hermione threateningly. Looking down, he spoke unnervingly calm.

"I want to beat the shit out of you right now Granger! You've put all my future heirs at risk. But unlike some." His cold eyes flickered to pity, only for a moment and it was barely noticeable, but they still flickered either way. "I was brought up the right way, with manners, and by being told not to hurt girls."

"Yes, because having heaps of one night stands doesn't hurt anyone," Hermione stated bitterly, sarcasm heavily lacing each word.

"Well, at least I'm not abusive like your so-called 'loving boyfriend'."

Hermione's entire demeanour changed drastically. The once bright eyes were gone in a heartbeat, replaced by broken, miserable ones, ones that flashed all the heartache and pain from the last seven years. 

"He's... He's not abusive. Ron just... Doesn't know his own strength."

"If he's hurting you constantly, Granger, it's abuse. He doesn't even have to know what he's doing... Those marks on your arm, that, right there, is signs of an abusive relationship. And abusive relationships never end well. The longer you deny the obvious facts, the worse it's going to get."

Hermione's eyes hadn't once wavered from Draco's while the blonde had been talking.

"What would you know?" She hissed, turning away from his burning gaze.

As she spun, her hair swept to the side momentarily and Draco caught sight of a nasty hand print peeking its way from the collar of her shirt.

Weasel's handprint.

"Just get out Malfoy! You're a good for nothing Death Eater... You'll never understand what I've had to go through, and in my opinion, you don't even deserve to be back here." Hermione spat, venom coating her entire outburst. 

His body froze up.

'That's what people think of me?'

"Well, who is ever gonna want someone as filthy as a Mudblood in their presence." Draco hissed.

That word...

That goddamn word...

And the nightmares it brings...

Hermione subconsciously traced her right hand over the scar and Draco winced.

Watching Hermione be tortured by his psychotic aunt had hurt him in ways he couldn't explain.

He couldn't even begin to imagine how much pain Hermione had felt.

"Malfoy are you going to leave? Or do I have to knock even more sense into you?"

He took a deep breath, turned around and left the room.

"Just... Don't let this get out of control Granger..."

He spoke softly to her back as the door shut swiftly behind him.


	7. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out @elfhunter05 on Wattpad. I have so many more Dramione stories for people to read.

(No one's POV)

Draco had woken up to very loud fists, banging on his door.

"Get. Up. Malfoy!" Hermione shouted at the locked door, groaning as he still wouldn't answer her.

She had tried multiple unlocking charms, but it seems that he had barricaded the door from the inside.

"We. Are. Late!" She hissed. He shot up confused and checked the time.

"Granger! Would you Shut Up for Merlin's sake!" He growled from. "We have two hours until class starts. What is your problem!?" He was agitated and his voice brimmed with sleep.

"Professor McGonagall wants to see us before class. It's some sort of important head's meeting!" Hermione explained to Draco desperately.

The said blonde had fully gotten out of bed by now and was making his way over to the door.

Hermione was just about to start knocking again when the door was aggressively thrown open. He stood there leaning against the frame glaring down at Hermione warningly.

His silky looking hair was a mess, his intimidating cold eyes were somewhat softer, gentler and extremely alluring. He had no shirt on and his toned body was impressive, much better than what the Gryffindor girls had claimed it to be.

"Are you done checking me out yet Granger? Or are you gonna leave so I can get dressed without you watching?" He sneered.

She sucked in a breath and looked away quickly, a deep blush spreading across her lightly freckled cheeks.

"Prick," Hermione mumbled angrily.

"Whatever."

She spun on her heal and Draco once again saw the vibrant red handprint on the back of her neck, hidden behind her hair.

"Hurry up!" Hermione called over her shoulder as the portrait swung shut.

"Don't let that one go, she will be an amazing achiever one day. You're lucky to have a girl like her in your life." An elderly lady in a painting said to Draco. He looked at her with the most puzzled look and she simply sighed and said. "You'll fall for her eventually." As she walked out of the picture frame.

'That's a load of bullshit!' Draco muttered angrily to himself as he stormed back into his room to put his clothes on.

~~~

Hermione was sitting on the big, spacious couch in McGonagall's office when Draco walked in.

His uniform had been put on messily, his hair has been rushed and there were visible bags under his eyes.

One thing was clear:

Draco Malfoy is not a morning person.

"Took you long enough, Mr Malfoy!" McGonagall scolded him.

"Sorry Professor, it won't happen again." Draco lazily apologised, flashing Hermione a cheeky smirk when McGonagall's back was turned.

She matched it with a frighteningly deadly death glare and he backed off slightly... (Slightly). As Draco sat down on the couch (as far away from Hermione as humanly possible) he turned his attention to the professor in front of him.

Professor McGonagall turned back around and handed the two a sheet of paper each.

"This is for you two to keep track of your prefect's duties." She explained. "I want to see this full by the end of the month." McGonagall looked at Draco warningly.

"Now... I also really need you two to guide the first years to their classes this morning. Do you think that would be too much trouble?" She asked, hopeful. Draco was about to intervene, but Hermione jabbed him in the ribs.

"We'd love to, Professor." She confirmed cheerfully. Draco was now tired and annoyed.

"Yeah, whatever." He hissed under his breath.

"Good! Now off to breakfast, I have work to do!" McGonagall shooed Hermione and Draco out of the room and shut the door behind them. She let out a sigh as she made her way over to her desk and sat down, rubbing her temples soothingly, she was thinking about how this year was going to be exceedingly hard.

For everyone.

~~~

Draco and Hermione awkwardly walked down the corridors, unsure of what to say to one another.

'I'm sorry for last night.' Is what he wanted to scream out. But he didn't. It would've been too strange.

They were about to round a corner and Draco had finally plucked up enough courage to ask her if she wanted help with the 'Weasel' situation?

But as they continued walking, a high pitched, ear-splitting, annoying as fuck voice could be heard at the opposite end of the corridor they were currently headed down and she seemed to be arguing with Professor Slughorn.

"No Professor! You listen to me! I don't care what the rules say! You tell me where the heads common room is or so help me I will-"

"-Miss Parkinson. That is no way to speak to your head of house. 50 points from Slytherin for your disrespectful behaviour."

"B-But I..." She looked down, faking the entire sadness and tears facade, as she "sobbed" quietly.

Out of the corner of Pansy's eye though, she saw Draco and looked up so suddenly you could almost hear her neck pop. "Draco!" She called out, making her way over to the blonde desperately. Professor Slughorn took this as his escape from the drama-filled witch and headed in the direction of the Great Hall.

"Draco!" She repeated, louder this time as she got closer to the two Prefects.

Cogs in Draco head were whizzing at a rapid pace, trying to find some escape from this sticky situation he was in.

Pansy was only about ten steps away and everything that happened next just seemed to go too fast for any actual brain to comprehend.

One second Draco was considering running off, the next, he had turned to face Hermione and a light bulb flickered on in his head.

She looked at him with an eyebrow raised, not in any way prepared for what Draco had thought up next.

"Malfoy... Why are you looking at me like tha-"

Very gently, he pressed his lips up against Hermione's, cutting her off.

Her eyes went wide and she tried to viciously push him off, but one of Draco's arms had locked around her waist and she was stuck in his embrace.

Pansy stopped dead in her tracks and screamed, tears pricking her eyes as she ran off crying loudly.

Draco's arm finally loosed around Hermione's waist she stepped away almost instantly, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Look Granger... I-"

"Get away from her Ferret!" Came a booming voice from the end of the corridor.

Ron stormed through the hall, heavy footsteps thumping on the stone tiles angrily. When he walked up to the two, he grabbed Hermione's wrist so fiercely it could've snapped. She visibly winced, but the Weasel-fuck-child didn't see a thing (as always).  

"Come on Hermione, let's go. You shouldn't let lowlife Death Eaters come anywhere near you. If I hadn't come sooner he probably would've tried to snog you. How awful would that have been?" He chuckled, completely unaware that the two actually had in fact shared a kiss.

But he doesn't need to know about that, it won't happen again...

Right?

"Y-Yeah." Hermione laughed weakly, trying to wiggle her hand out of his grasp.

"Come on let's go to breakfast," Ron said, tugging roughly on Hermione's arm, slightly dragging her down the corridor. "Harry and Ginny are waiting."

~~~

Draco's POV

During the entire breakfast, I could feel a specific pair of eyes on me, and every time I looked over to meet them, she would look away flustered.

This continued throughout most of the meal until Blaise decided to butt in.

"Alright! That's it! What the fuck is going on between you and the Gryffindors this morning. You never look at their table for more than two seconds a day, and right now it looks like you've got yourself some secret that you're not telling me. Either you spill the details Malfoy or so help me I wil-"

"-Okay okay... I'll tell you... Just... Not now." I hissed timidly. Blaise only raised an eyebrow but didn't question me further.

There was a sudden scrape of wood on stone and I saw Granger rush out of the Great Hall swiftly, leaving behind a rather confused Ginger and his star-struck leader: Boy Wonder.

The Weasley girl snapped her head around to her brother and must've muttered some threat or whatnot because he went abnormally pale and nodded solemnly.

The said fiery witch then stormed angrily out of the Hall and Boy Wonder watched her in admiration.

Lovesick puppy.

Blaise must've caught me staring because he started asking me one of his so-called 'emotional questions'.

"Draco... Are you feeling alri-"

"- I kissed Granger."

There was a moment of silence until Blaise decided to laugh.

"... And you liked it?" He scoffed.

"Precisely." I drawled.

"Shit... You're screwed." He chuckled joyfully.

"Fuck off." I cursed bitterly, crossing my arms and scowling.

"Damn... You are in deep."

"Am not!" I whined.

"Are too!" He mocked in a childlike manner. "You are so in love."


	8. Eight

Draco's POV

Blaise had been bugging me all through breakfast about 'being in love with Granger or whatever.'

I was just about to suggest snapping his neck to keep him quiet, but the bell rang, and he dragged me out of the hall quicker than one could say 'Merlin's Pants'.

As he was dragging me to the potions classroom we heard a voice coming from a deserted corridor and Blaise, (being the bastard he is) decided to stop walking right in the middle of the corridor and I walked straight into him.

"Shit." I hissed through clenched teeth. "You're such a fucking pri-"

He cut me off and put a finger to his lips in a shushing motion, pointing the other to the end of the corridor.

We ducked behind a column and strained our ears to hear the two girls' conversation.

Ginny's POV

We were casually eating breakfast and making small talk when Hermione reached across the table to grab something and the sleeves of her robe rose up her forearm. Underneath revealed purplish blue bruises and many handprints sized red marks.

I took a sharp intake of breath and Ron looked at me funny.

"Gin... What's wrong?"

I ignored his question and turned to Hermione. Ron didn't seem to care and went back to eating his beloved food.

She must've noticed my stares because the bushy-haired witch was very quick to pull her sleeve back down and swiftly shoved her arm under the table.

"H-Hermione... I-"

"-No." She snapped. "It's fine-"

"-It's not fine! Does Ron know about this!?" I hissed under my breath.

"Do I know about what?"

Damn it, he heard me.

"Nothing Ron." Hermione smiled sweetly at him and he grinned back, turning away from his 'girlfriend' and back to the plate of eggs in front of him.

"Well, Hermione!?" I fixed her with a glare.

The bell rang throughout the hall and the sound of wood scraping on stone was a tad bit loud for a lot of people.

"Not here." She mumbled, getting up off her chair to leave. The boys followed us out of the great hall

"Where are you two going?" Harry asked as I started leading Hermione down a corridor.

"Ladies room," I answered him simply.

"Just don't be late for potions." He smiled as I nodded in agreement.

"You sound like my mother," Ron muttered to Harry as we were walking away.

When Hermione and I were out of earshot, I turned to face the poor girl, rage and fury building up in my stomach, ready to be unleashed.

"Why are you cheating on my brother!?" I hissed, my voice sounded raspy and cold in the empty corridor.

Hermione's chest rose and fell at a rapid pace as she tried not to cry, tears still dribbled down her face anyway, despite her frantic attempts to wipe them away.

"I'm not!" She said through clenched teeth. I folded my arms across my chest and narrowed my eyes at her.

"Oh wow! Sure you aren't!" I said, sarcasm extremely evidential in my voice. I turned away to leave when she shouted out to me.

"Ginny! Listen!" She pleaded.

"What!?" I snapped. Hermione winced but I didn't back down.

"What makes you think I'm cheating on him?" She asked softly.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because my brother would never do that to anyone!"

"But Ron... H-He's abusive." She choked out between more tears. "Haven't you noticed anything!?"

Tears were still streaming down Hermione's face in bucket loads, and the corridor had suddenly become deathly quiet.

~~~

Draco's POV

I swear Blaise had never been more silent than what he was right now.

It was as though he and Weaslette were stuck in shock.

"He... What!?" The fiery witch suddenly screeched. "Oh boy! Ronald is dead." She hissed, cracking her knuckles and turning to leave.

Granger was quick to grab her friend's sleeve and she turned the girl around once more.

"Ginny, don't. Please, I'll deal with it later." Granger snapped

"But-"

"No buts. I'll deal with it. Just leave it for now." Granger pleaded. The Weasley girl looked uncertain. 

"Are you sure, Hermione?"

"Ginny, I promise." 

The Weaslette gave a sigh but agreed nonetheless.

"Ok, Hermione."

"Thank you."

The two girls hugged for a moment and then left the corridor in favour of going to potions.

"The Weasel abuses Granger!?" Blaise almost shouted when they were out of earshot.

"Oh get over yourself, Blaise. It's not like you care."

Blaise opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off before the thought could leave his lips.

~~~

No One's POV

Draco had already left and so Blaise's next confession fell on deaf ears.

"Well given the fact that Weasel's sister is my girlfriend, I kind of do care," Blaise said with a sigh, hurrying after Draco.

Potions was a bore. (For most people that is)

Everyone had been given a two-foot essay on Polyjuice potion and it was due the next day.

A certain heroic pair of boys groaned at the thought of homework. Whereas Hermione's face lit up with excitement.

Some things never change.

Draco walked into their common room after all their classes had finished, he was reluctant to start the potions essay and when he saw Hermione sitting at the kitchen bench scribbling away at a piece of parchment, he scoffed.

"You're pathetic Granger." Draco spat.

"Okay." She said blankly, not paying the blond any attention.

"And you're a filthy Mudblood too." He hissed.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "That's a new one." She said sarcastically, burying her nose in her book.

"Look at me, Granger!" Draco growled, startling the poor witch. She slowly lowered her book and glared across the room at him.

"If I'm so pathetic, why do you constantly need my attention, Malfoy?" Hermione drawled, packing up her books.

Draco was speechless. He opened his mouth to snap at her but all that came out was a groan of frustration.

"Goodnight." She cooed over her shoulder slamming her bedroom door shut.

'Damn it!' He mentally scolded himself. 'She humiliated me again!'

~~~

(Draco's POV)

'What would happen if powdered root of asphodel was added to an infusion of wormwood?' 

I read the question over and over again, this was impossible, and clearly a waste of my time. I silently rolled off my bed and crept out of the room. 

I walked up to Granger's door and knocked three times, very loud. She threw the door open and glared at me angrily.

"What do you want Ferret?" 

I rolled my eyes and put on the fakest smile I could possibly pull. 

"Dearest Mudblood, I only wish to borrow your answers to the potions essay. Mind you though, I don't plan on giving them back."

She smirked. "Nice try Malfoy." And slammed the door in my face.

~~~

I had woken up with 20 minutes until class, still in the clothes from yesterday, paper sprawled out all over the bed.

When I had gotten dressed and tidied up my bed a bit, I walked out into the common room to find a note taped to the table:

I tried to wake you

It didn't work

~H.G.

'Great!' Now I'm going to be late and I never finished my homework! I am in so much trouble.

~~~

(No one's POV)

When Draco got to potions before Slughorn had arrived he thought the rest of his morning could be peaceful. 

How very wrong that thought was...

"How's Malfoy?" Harry asked Hermione, she turned to him with an 'are you kidding me' look and simply said:

"He's a prat." She groaned.

Ginny snorted.

Ron nudged Hermione quite roughly. "He's watching us again." She looked up confused to see the Draco was watching them, but why?

When Ron smirked, Hermione shuddered. He pulled her onto him by her collar and pressed his lips against hers. They got a few cheers and a couple of whistles, Hermione pulled away and glanced at Draco again he was still looking but this time he looked kind of... Sympathetic? 

She raised her eyebrows and he shook his head, turning back to his book.

Hermione looked over at Harry and saw he was smiling happily, but she saw Ginny looking at something else. 

Something in the back corner of the room.

Hermione followed her glance and the sight was horrific...


	9. Nine

Lavender Brown was glaring across the classroom at Hermione, she was an awful red colour and looked very scary.

"What did I do?" Hermione whispered to Ginny.

"Don't make any sudden movements!" She hissed back. Ron leaned over to the girls and followed their gazes. His eyes widened and he went pale. Thankfully for Ronald though, no one saw this.

"What's her problem?" Harry quietly chimed in. This is what made her snap. Literally. The pencil she was holding cracked in half and fell to the floor. She was in full rage, Lavender pushed out her chair and slowly stood up. She staggered over to Hermione's desk and slammed her fist down hard.

"Wha-" Hermione tried to start but was cut off.

"Shut it, you stupid Mudblood!" She screeched, everyone was dead silent, watching this scary situation. If anyone was to get involved it would probably make it worse.

"That's my Won-Won!!" She sobbed through the screaming. Many people were very confused, including Hermione.

"Lavender, that was two years ago... Are you still obsessed with him!? You need to bloody get over yourself, he-"

"Are you kidding me I-" No one got to hear what else she was going to say. Professor Slughorn had just walked in and the room had adverted its attention.

"Seats, now!" Horace was very flustered, it was easy to notice. "Open your books to page 417 and read the text on bezoars."

"But Sir, we have already read this." The class murmured in agreement.

"Than write me an essay on the proper uses and abilities of one and where it could be found." He instructed, moving to the front of the class to collect the assignments from the previous day.

\--------------------------------------

When Slughorn arrived at Draco's table he looked up at his Professor and smiled sheepishly.

"You see Professor. Mine..."

"Yes?" He asked impatiently.

Draco looked around the room and caught Hermione smirking at him, he scowled in return and turned back to his teacher.

"I didn't finish it." He mumbled, picking at the sticking on his robes. Slughorn let out a sigh.

"You know that means I have to give you a detention Mr Malfoy." He clarified.

"Yes Professor," Draco muttered under his breath, anger threatening to explode.

"Good to hear, now go start on your potion Mr Malfoy and I expect better from you in the future. You're one of my brightest students and I don't want to see you fail this year." Slughorn walked off to the next table and Draco nearly knocked his chair over with how aggressively he stood up.

Draco stormed into the potions storeroom to grab his ingredients and was met with none other than Hermione Granger, rustling through a shelf.

"If it isn't my favourite Mudblood." He sneered.

"Hello Ferret," Hermione said coldly, paying him no attention. This only fuelled Draco's rage.

"Why do you always do this!" He snapped.

"Do what?" She drawled not even turning to face him.

"Look at me Granger!" He hissed, grabbing her forearm. Hermione instantly recoiled, backed into the furthest corner of the storeroom and wrapped her arms around herself.

Draco put his hands up defensively and took a step away from the frightened witch.

"Granger... I-"

"Malfoy! What the fuck did you do to her!" Ron roared, shoving him aside and pulling Hermione into his chest.

"Ron... G-Get off me."

"You don't know what you're saying 'Mione, come here." He hushed, digging his blunt nails into her shoulders. "You, on the other hand Malfoy, need to stay the fuck away from her!"

"What in Merlin's name is going on in here?" Slughorn's voice rang out.

"Malfoy started it!"

"It's Granger's fault!"

Both boys accusations seemed to have annoyed the professor even more.

"Alright. All three of you will get a detention. Tonight. After dinner, in this classroom."

There was a murmur of agreement and the three went their separate ways.

\--------------------------------------

Ron, Harry, and Ginny had already left the class together, Hermione promising to catch up. As she was gathering her belongings, Draco caught her sleeve.

"That was all your fault Granger!" He growled and Hermione glared at him with a burning hatred.

"My fault! So it's my fault now? How in Merlin's name could that have possibly been my fault!?" 

"Because it was your abusive boyfriend who caused a scene.'' Draco hissed in reply. Hot tears clouded her vision and she felt her breath hitch.

"Move Malfoy!" Hermione shoved him with both hands into a wall and walked right past him, towards the Great Hall for their morning tea. Draco was taken aback, no one treated him like that, especially not some Mudblood scum.

Hermione had gotten to the Gryffindor not long before the food appeared on the table and Ron dug in, completely ignoring her existence. 

"Why did you guys get detention?" Harry asked softly breaking the awkward silence.

"Well... I-" 

"Bloody Malfoy was picking fights again," Ron said with a mouthful of food.

Ginny scowled at her brother's awful table manners but gave a reassuring smile to Hermione when she saw the troubled look on her best friend's face.

"I don't know what I'd do without you Gin,'' Hermione whispered, reaching for the redhead's hand under the table. 

\--------------------------------------

Draco came into the common room after dinner, half an hour until Slughorn wanted them for detention, and flopped on the couch. He was annoyed and angry. Blaise had been bragging the whole afternoon about his "amazing" Quidditch skills. He wouldn't stop talking about the upcoming trials and was certain that his "Zabini charm" was going to win him the position as captain for Slytherin. Draco couldn't care less, to be honest. While lying on the couch, Draco felt his eyelids start to droop and drifted off to the sound of the crackling fireplace.

Hermione cautiously entered the common room she shared with Malfoy, ready for all the insults and snarky comments. But when she saw Draco sleeping, it caught her completely off guard.

"Malfoy?" Hermione edged closer to the couch, "Are you awake?" She approached the couch as if Draco was a bomb. He stirred slightly and Hermione jumped back, she went to take another step but he suddenly rolled off the couch and hit his head on the coffee table. His eyes flew open and his hands went straight to the back of his head.

"Ow Fuck!" He mumbled, standing up, leaning on the couch for support. Hermione let out a snort of laughter and he looked up at her, realizing her presence.

"Do you wanna fall off a couch and then sit up and laugh!?" Draco hissed, then groaned as pain clouded his vision.

"No. I don't, and I won't, because I'm not as clumsy as you." Hermione informed him with a smirk.

"Is that right?" Draco asked, dropping his hand and taking a step towards her. "Because I can remember multiple times watching you trip and fall down a flight of stairs."

"Because you were the one who pushed me." Hermione cried in annoyance. Draco raised his eyebrows and stepped closer, causing Hermione to step back.

"What about that time when you dropped your cauldron of Veritaserum on the floor in the middle of Snape's class? I believe he convinced you that you're clumsy with how much yelling he did." Draco had walked even closer to Hermione and now she had nowhere else to go.

"If I remember correctly Malfoy, you were the one who knocked it off my desk in the first place, because you were jealous that it was better than yours." His cocky demeanour faded and he had walked so close to Hermione that she was backed up against the wall.

"What about when you fell in the black lake? That wasn't my fault."

"No, because you're afraid of the giant squid, so you got Zabini to push me instead." A low grumble sounded from Draco's chest and Hermione blushed, only now realising that he had an arm on either side of her, trapping her against the wall, and their faces were so close together that if she tilted her head slightly... Hermione took a sharp intake of breath.

"Just admit it Malfoy, I'm not the clumsy one. You are." Hermione whispered. Draco didn't respond to what she had said, he was too busy focusing on her mouth. "Malfoy, I-"

Without a moment to think, Draco pressed his lips to hers. Hermione let out an involuntary whimper at the sudden contact, his lips weren't demanding like Ron's, he wasn't forcing her into anything she didn't want, it was simply a gentle and passionate moment.

When Draco lightly nipped at Hermione's bottom lip, she moaned softly, causing Draco to feel a twitch in a certain sensitive area between his legs. In return, Draco growled and pressed harder against her, pushing his tongue through her parted lips. 

Hermione was surprised when he pressed her further into the wall and felt heat pool in her lower abdomen when his tongue slid into her mouth. Hermione's hands went to the back of his neck and tugged on the locks of blond hair.

Draco tried to tease Hermione in return for pulling his hair, but she had started sucking on his tongue at a slow and agonising pace, sending shivers throughout his body. 

When a pleasurable groan escaped his lips, Draco realised, with great annoyance, that he had a definite hard-on.

With great effort, Draco pulled his lips from hers and started pressing kisses down her neck.

"Why'd you stop?" Hermione asked breathlessly.

"If you kept going I probably would've tried to shag you." Draco groaned, rocking his hips into hers, showing Hermione the effect she had on him. Hermione let out a whimper as she felt him press against her covered core.

"You're not helping right now Granger." He mumbled into her hair. "And if we don't get a move on, we're going to be late for detention." Hermione hummed in agreement as they untangled themselves from each other.


	10. Ten

Hermione's POV

By the time I had gotten out of the common room and away from Malfoy, my head was buzzing with the events from only moments ago. 

How could I have let that happen? Malfoy just snogged me and I didn't even attempt to stop him. What would Harry say?

... What would Ron say? That is a conversation I'm willing not to tell him, who knows how badly he'd take it.

I didn't actually know where my feet were taking me, I was just walking aimlessly through the halls. Trying to take my mind off Malfoy. But when the temperature of the air around me suddenly dropped to a numbing cold, I was aware that I was in the potion's corridor. 

Pushing open the door to the classroom, I saw Ron sitting at a desk, feet up and arms crossed. He didn't say anything when I walked in, didn't even bother to acknowledge me when I sat down next to him. It was very irritating.

"Hey Ron," I said, forcing on a smile even though the only thing I could think about was how guilty I felt for kissing Malfoy before. Ron looked over at me and nodded in approval. 

What the hell was that about?

I heard the door creak open and Malfoy stalked in, sitting at the desk on the other side of me. Ron greeted him with a cold glare but he kept his eyes trained on me.

"Malfoy," I said quietly. I was intending to sound intimidating, but my voice came out more squeaky than I wanted and when a smirk spread across his face, and I felt myself flush.

"I take it ol' Sluggy isn't here yet?" Malfoy's voice was laced with venom but I could hear the annoyance beneath it. 

"Why do you care, Ferret? It's your fault we are in here in the first place! Why are you complaining?" Ron's voice echoed throughout the empty classroom.

"Because unlike some people, weaselbee, I actually have better things to do than sit around with a bunch of shitty Gryffindors." I felt a stab of anger in my chest. Malfoy must've known he was hitting a nerve because he smirked and leaned back in his chair to put his feet up on the desk. "I honestly don't know how you can put up with him Granger, he's awful."

"I can't see why it's any of your business Malfoy," I replied cooly, or so I thought, my voice was nothing more than a whisper and I saw the satisfaction flash in Draco's eyes. The satisfaction that he was clearly the one having this effect on me.

"Malfoy, leave my girlfriend alone." 

The fact that Ron was standing up for me was heartwarming but when he said 'girlfriend' I heard the slight change in his tone as if he was trying to convince himself that that is what I am to him.

"Well Weasley, maybe you should actually start treating her like one."

"What are you talking ab-"

Just when I thought Malfoy was going to ruin everything, Professor Slughorn walked in and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry I'm late, a third year decided to blow up a painting."

~~~

No One's POV

The next day at lunch, Hermione was sitting with Ginny, Luna, and Neville under a shady tree, down near the lake. They were all just making friendly small chatter until Hermione had an idea.

"I think I'm going to spend the afternoon in the Gryffindor common room later. What do you think? It can be just like old times!" She said excitedly.

"That's a great idea! And we can have a girl's sleepover as well!" Ginny stated. "Luna, you can come as well if you want?"

"That would be lovely." She replied dreamily. Neville cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Yeah. Um. I'm here too." He mumbled to no one in particular. There was a moment of silence but the four soon broke it by bursting out with laughter at the thought of Neville staying up late at night to gossip with the rest of the girls.

~~~

Once all of Hermione's classes had finished for the day, she walked into the common room and headed to her room, walking straight past Draco's curious stares. She plonked her stuff down on the bed and threw her robes off, Hermione was left standing in her room with just a shirt and skirt.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Hermione asked when a certain blond's head popped around the corner of her doorframe.

"I was just wondering what you were doing?" He asked. 

"What are you up to Malfoy?" She questioned suspiciously, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes at him.

"Nothing," Draco said, bringing his hands to his face in mock surrender. Hermione saw right through his act though.

"Get out then," She sighed, rummaging through her trunk for clothes.

He rolled his eyes and walked out, shutting the door with an audible thud.

After Hermione had packed some clothes in an overnight bag, she stepped out into the common room and accidentally walked straight into Draco. He reached to catch her fall and they both toppled to the ground together. She quickly climbed off him and picked her bag back up.

"Where are you going?" He asked, standing up and brushing the dust off his shirt.

"I'm going to stay the night in the Gryffindor common rooms." She said, already rushing past him to the portrait. "Don't trash the place Malfoy." She added as a final thought before the portrait swung shut behind her.

An idea flew into Draco's head as soon as she'd left.

Slytherin Party.

~~~

Hermione had gotten to the Portrait of the Fat Lady when she realized that she didn't know the password. But when the Fat Lady turned around to ask for the entrance, it was completely different to what she had planned.

"Ah Miss Granger. Welcome back." She greeted Hermione with a warm smile. "Come right in, Miss Weasley told me you'd be stopping by." She explained.

"Thanks," Hermione mumbled walking into the common room. Ginny jumped up off the couch as soon as she'd entered and flung her arms around Hermione. Luna just stood back and laughed.

"Woah, I was just with you for lunch, what's happened between then and now?"

"Nothing!" She let go and stepped back, "I'm just really excited!" Ginny said with a smile from ear to ear. "We haven't done anything like this in ages!" She complained. Luna nodded in agreement. Hermione laughed and the three girls started walking up to the dormitories.

When Ginny pushed the door open, the girls stopped instantly. Luna went very pale, Ginny looked like she was about to faint and Hermione slowly went red with rage.

"I thought you locked the door!" He hissed.

"I thought you did..." She whispered frantically.


	11. Eleven

"I thought you locked the door!" Ron hissed.

"I thought you did..." Lavender whispered frantically.

~~~ 

The three girls had walked into the room ready for a girl's night of gossiping and laughter, only to see Ron Weasley, balls deep inside of Lavender Brown.

Once the two had noticed their audience, Ron (very flustered might I add) pulled himself out of Lavender and put on a pair of shorts, Lavender slid into an oversized shirt and they both crawled off the bed.

"Hermione... I-"

"SHUT UP! I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses!" Hermione spat at him.

"Just give me a chance to explain!" He pleaded, grabbing for Hermione's arm.

"No! All you ever do is hurt me! I'm sick of it! I'm sick of you lying to me, abusing me and cheating on me!"

"I wasn't cheating on you. It's just that. You never want to have sex with me!" He persuaded.

"That's because you continue to hurt me" She sobbed.

"I still love you Her-"

"Don't even try that on me, Ronald. I should've seen this before. That day in potions makes so much sense now!" She said finished with hatred written all over her face.

"Hermi-"

"No! We're finished Ron, I don't ever want to see you again, stay away from me!" Hermione hissed, turning to leave the room. Ron was too quick though, he dug his blunt nails so hard into her arm that spots of blood appeared and started trickling down her arm.

"You can't leave me, Granger, no one else would want you!" He sneered.

Ginny wasted no time in storming over to Ron and ripped his arm away from Hermione. Luna hastily lead her out of the room and down the stairs to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Hermione Wait!" Ron called out, attempting to chase after her but Ginny blocked his path. "Gin, move! Hermione's issues don't concern you!" Ginny faced her brother with pure rage.

"Actually yes, they do because I'm probably one of the only people Hermione can actually trust right now! So stay away from her!"

"You can't tell me what to do!"

Ginny turned to face her older brother with clenched fists. She swung a punch across his face, knocking him out cold.

"No, you're right, I can't tell you what to do... But Mum can." A smirk spread across the redhead's face.

~~~

Hermione was crying her eyes out by the time she had made it to the Head dormitories and before she even muttered the password, the portrait was thrown open by Theodore Nott. He had a girl under one arm and was stumbling through the portrait hole, it was clear that he was pissed drunk. However, when Theo saw Hermione he looked instantly sober.

"Shit, are you okay Granger?" He cursed, pushing the girl away and walking over to Hermione.

"What's Malfoy done now?" She mumbled peering over his shoulder.

"Draco! Get out here!" Theodore yelled over his shoulder, Draco came out with a bottle of Firewhiskey in his hand and a smirk on his face. When he saw Hermione standing there, the smirk was replaced with annoyance and his eyes narrowed at her.

"You fucking said that you were staying with the Weaslette." He nearly shouted.

"Well, things change!" She muttered, wiping a couple of stray tears, before pushing him aside and walking into their common room. When she saw all the seventh and eighth year Slytherins, Hermione turned around and glared at Draco.

"I go to stay one night somewhere else and you think it's alright to throw a party?" She sobbed.

"Well Granger, you probably would've done the same!" He yelled back.

"No! I wouldn't! Because I have common sense!" Hermione replied, tears streaming down her face again. Hermione dried her face with the back of her hand and Draco saw the patches of blood that were staining her wrist.

"What happened to your arm Granger?" He asked with sincere concern, his mood completely changing towards the brunette witch.

"Don't act as if you suddenly care Malfoy."

"But I do car-"

She had already run off and Draco was never heard.

"Dude, You should-"

"I should what?" Draco turned to Theo anger playing on his features.

"Apologise." Theo finished quietly. Draco took a breath as if to clear his head and handed Theo the Firewhiskey bottle.

"Everyone better be gone by the time I get back," Draco stated sternly.

"Yes Romeo," Theo winked, "Now go find your Juliette."

Draco only grumbled in reply.


	12. Tweleve

Hermione was just wandering through corridor after corridor, there was nowhere to go. She didn't want to go to dinner and have to face Ron or Harry, she just wanted to curl up and cry herself to sleep.

(Draco's POV)

I walked into the Great Hall and instantly scanned the room for Granger. She wasn't there, but the bloody Weasel was. Just the sight of him made my blood boil. When I was walking down the Slytherin table, I could hear everyone whispering to each other.

"I heard that he dumped her!"

"No! She broke up with him!"

"I heard he cheated on her!"

"Yeah! It was with Luna Lovegood!"

"No! It was with Lavender Brown!"

"Nick told me that she walked in on them..." The child looked around before continuing, "Having sex!" The child finished barely above a whisper. There were many gasps and I had a bad feeling I knew what this was about. If I was right... Best not to think about it, I could already feel the anger flooding through my veins. 

I tapped one of the kids on the shoulder out of curiosity and they turned around to face me, visibly nervous.

"Y-yes?"

"Who are you guys talking about?" I motioned to the big group of children sitting at the table.

"Um..." Their eyes darted to each other in silent communication as though they were judging if I could be trusted or not. They must have deemed me trustworthy, because they answered my question eventually, with only little hesitation, "H-Hermione Granger..." The kid looked down nervously and all his other friends had all gone silent.

"Thanks," I mumbled quietly and awkwardly patted the kid on the back before walking off. It was taking all of my self-control not to let my anger get the best of me. Although, as I was leaving the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall approached me, and I forced a tight smile on my face.

"Mister Malfoy, can you please remind Miss Granger that as Head Girl she is required to eat in the Great Hall at mealtimes." 

I gave a stern nod and kept my face clear of any anger or annoyance. Turning to walk away she quietly added a request. 

"Also, please give Hermione my best wishes. She doesn't deserve what Mister Wasley did to her."

"Weasley's done something? I had no idea." I lied through clenched teeth, it was a skill that I have improved over the years, but McGonagall caught me off guard. There was a slight twinkle in her eyes, proving that she could see right through my act.

"You can't-fool me, Mister Malfoy, now please go find her and make sure she shows up to class tomorrow. Goodnight." With that, she left.

I silently cursed to myself for always getting involved in these situations. But nevertheless, I sighed and sped out of the great hall to go find Granger.

I was walking down the winding twisting corridors of Hogwarts, no real destination in mind, I was just trying to find somewhere that Granger would probably be hiding in. I walked past the big double doors of the library and stopped dead in my tracks.

This was probably a good place to start looking.

I pushed open the heavy oak doors, as quietly as I could, and walked into the big, shadowy room.

"Lumos," I muttered quietly, flicking my wand in the air. Once I could see again, I was walking down the isles looking for Granger, the bookworm was probably sulking into a book off in a deserted corner. So that was exactly where I checked.

When I neared the end of one of the many walls of books, I could hear strange noises, and being the Malfoy I am, I didn't hesitate to walk right in.

It definitely was not Granger...

Blaise Zabini had Ginny Weasley pressed against a wall and was snogging the living daylights out of her, she didn't seem to be complaining though. I turned and crept away as quietly as I could, thank Merlin neither of the two saw me.

I was gonna tease Zabini about that later though, who wouldn't?

Safely out of the library, I was walking down the corridors once again. I was nearing close to the Room of Requirement when I could hear distinctive sobbing and a pair of heavy footsteps, I hid behind a pillar, in case it was Weasel again. I'm too pretty to get hurt.

Granger was on the ground, tears streaming down her face.

'Girls are so emotional' I thought with an eye roll.

Cormac McClaggen, on the other hand, had walked around the other corner and was approaching Granger, she still hadn't noticed him. She looked so relaxed. He gently lay his hand on her shoulder, her head shot up to look at him, her eyes were red, puffy and tear-stained.

"R-Ron?"

"No, it's me." He gave a chuckle, I wanted to punch him so hard. Granger had tensed up so much as she tried to move out from under his hand, his grip was too tight.

"Come on I'll take you back to your dorm." He persuaded, a flash of fear spread across her face but she hid it quickly, and reluctantly stood up as he started leading her down the corridor. I kept a close follow on them, sneaking from behind pillars. He kept one arm around her waist the other one in the pocket of his jeans, the hand around her waist was slowly slipping down, it was dangerously close to her ass.

I was seething with anger, this jerk was a bloody dim-wit, he was even worse than Crabbe and Goyle, and that was saying something. Cormac rounded a corner, one that was generally deserted and did a quick check over his shoulder, I ducked out of the way just in time.

McDumb-ass just had to take advantage of her, didn't he? His hand went straight down to her ass and gave it a really hard squeeze. The squeak that came from her mouth could have beaten a mouse at its own game. Granger's slipped out of his grip and tried to vigorously push him away.

"Desperate are we?" He whispered into her ear and roughly pushed her against the wall. He shoved his lips against hers and forced his tongue into her mouth.

"Ge- Get off- Get off me!"

"You won't be saying that when you're in my bed later." He murmured in her ear as he started pressing kisses down her neck.

I had to do something, anything, I had to stop him but I was frozen in shock.

McFat-Face was still pressing wet, sloppy kisses down her collarbone and she was still pleading him to stop, nothing was working. He grabbed the sides of her shirt and ripped it in half, multiple of the buttons fell to the ground and the shirt had several tears. McClaggen started running his hand up Granger's skirt and she screamed out. He slapped her across the face to shut her up and that was what made me snap. I drew my wand and came out from behind the pillar.

"Stupefy!" I hissed. Cormac went flying to the other side of the corridor and lay on the ground, unconscious. Granger slid down the wall and burst into tears again, her head resting in her hands. I walked over to her and placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

"Come on Granger, let's go." She didn't budge. "I said get up Granger," I was louder this time but there still no movement. 

"Please Hermione, I really don't want to freeze out here and I'm sure you don't want to either." She stopped crying and looked up at me, I offered my hand and she took it willingly. When she stood up, her legs were really shaky and I understood why. 

"Can you walk?" I asked softly. She shook her head, so I picked her up bridal style and she wrapped her arms around my neck for dear life.

"Please don't drop me, please don't drop me, please don't drop me." She mumbled to herself very quietly, I felt a smile tug at the corner of my lips and started waking to our dorm. It was only when I looked down at her that I realized what she was wearing, peaking out from the remains of her shirt was the bra that I was teasing her about when I opened her trunk on the first night here.

I started to feel a faint throbbing in my abdomen. Knowing that I was growing hard, I desperately tried to think about other things as a distraction. I was simply listing Quidditch scores in my head, avoiding looking at Granger, but as I was walking through an empty hallway, there was a window that had been partly open, letting in a breeze. I tried to avoid walking directly through the gust of wind, but it was too strong and I could feel myself shiver and Granger grabbed on tighter to my shirt. But when the wind hit us it also blew up her skirt slightly and I caught a glimpse of her matching red underwear. Quidditch scores were no longer working, I was officially a goner, my erection was sticking up and my face was beet red.

By the time we had made it to the portrait of Snape, Granger had just lightly dozed off and I had gotten my flushed face under control, but unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for my body.

"Mister Malfoy, it is way past curfew and- Oh?" He smirked at me, seeing Granger in my arms and raised an eyebrow.

"It's not what it looks like!" I groaned in embarrassment.

"Whatever you say." Snape chuckled, "Password please?" I rolled my eyes and racked my brain for this weeks password.

"It's um... Gum Drops?" To my relief, the wizard nodded his head and the portrait swung open. I walked through the common room and up to Granger's door, but as it lightly creaked open I felt her get restless in m arms. She gripped tighter onto my shirt and my cock throbbed at the feeling of her nails through the fabric.

"I don't want to be alone." She mumbled quietly and I could hear the hesitation and fear in her voice. Taking a breath to attempt to calm my excitement I left her room.

"Alright," I replied understanding how she probably felt and took her up to my room instead. The door was pushed open and I gently lay Granger down on my bed, she curled up to one of my pillows and pulled her knees in tight. I turned, making my way to the bathroom, but she reached out and grabbed my wrist.

"Please don't leave." She choked on a sob. Just seeing her on my bed in lacy red underwear was doing wonders for my imagination. Taking a minute to get my breathing under control I cleared my throat and tried to get the evidential lust out of my tone.

"I need a shower, Granger," I said, my voice unnaturally husky. I saw something flicker in Hermione's eyes and she nibbled on her lip nervously. I was so aroused it was starting to get painful. 

"I'm scared." She mumbled and another tear slid down her face. I groaned and ran my hands down my face. If I left her here in this state, she would never forgive me but if I stay, I'm probably going to end up poking her in the eye. I sighed and crossed the room to my dresser. She was watching me curiously, biting her lip again. Taking a sharp breath through my clenched teeth, I turned away from her intoxicating stares. 

"I'm getting changed Granger, but feel free to watch if you want." Even I could hear the smirk in my own voice and she must've heard it too because it didn't feel as if all the attention was on me. 

I stripped out of all my clothes except a pair of black boxers and turned back around. 

Wrong time to turn. 

Hermione was standing next to the bed, sliding the skirt down her legs and removing her tattered shirt properly. Watching this simple action made my body heat up and my cock to throb like crazy. Hermione must not have noticed me watching because she climbed back into my bed, facing away from me.

I followed a moment later, my breathing already ragged and hoarse and my body responding to Hermione like an animal would to its mate. Hungrily. Probably the only thing stopping me from fucking her through the headboard is my faint common sense that what she has just experienced, has probably scared her.

When I lay down next to Granger, I made sure not to touch her or it would probably make my current situation much worse. What made it even harder to avoid was when Granger rolled over. She was so close that I could smell her shampoo and hear the faint sniffles as she breathed. It was taking all of my self-control to not lean in and snogged her until she begged me to stop.

"Thank you, Draco." She whispered nervously, biting her lip again. That was it, the lip biting was the most I could take, it completely ruined my plan of staying sane. Her teeth let go of her lip and she opened her mouth to speak again. "I-

I couldn't resist, I leaned in and took her bottom lip between my teeth, I felt awful for doing it but, Merlin, she was like a drug to me. Hermione whimpered and I just knew she felt the same.

"Please." She whispered, arching off the bed ever so slightly. It was only a small action but it was her way of giving me permission. I groaned and sat up, climbing across the bed and laying myself back down on top of Hermione. With one hand I held both of her wrists above her head and the other was resting on her hip.

"Just tell me to stop if you need." I groaned, hoping it wouldn't come to that. She nodded once sincerly and I pressed my lips to hers. This kiss wasn't like the one from the other day, that one was gentle and passionate, this one was dominating and rough. 

My brain was going fuzzy with lust and when Hermione's nail's scratched over my nipples I gave an animalistic growl. She didn't seem to scared get by it though, instead, she moaned and tilted her head back. My lips left hers and I started nibbling on her neck, grinding my hips into hers.

She gasped and her eyes flew open as a cock-twitching moan escaped her lips. "Draco." My name escaped her lips like a plea and I ground my hips again. I got the same reaction each time and the more I did it, the closer I came to a release. I went to rock my hips again but she wouldn't let me.

"Stop." She hissed breathlessly with half-lidded eyes. I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears and I'm sure she could as well.

"Why?" I groaned, clenching my teeth to stop my body from rocking against hers. 

"Because" she whispered, pressing her lips to mine and running her hands down my chest, "It's my turn." I felt her nails trace over my stomach and stop at the waistband of my boxers. One delicate hand slipped inside and I groaned, my voice cracking and my breathing speeding up faster than it normally should.

"Hermione." I was close to screaming. I threaded my fingers through her hair and bit down on my clenched fist do hold back the noises that were rising in the back of my throat. With one hand, she slipped my boxers off and with the other, she gripped the base of my cock.

"Merlin, you're huge." She moaned, running her hand all the way up and slamming it back down again. A sort of squeaky noise came out of my mouth and Hermione smirked. "Did you like that Draco?" She said seductively, running her hand up and down my shaft multiple times, leaning in to nibble on my ear. "Because it certainly looks like you did." She teased.

"P-piss off Granger." I groaned, my eyes squeezed shut. She suddenly halted all her movements and I let out a cry.

"What was that Malfoy? Did you want me to stop?" Her hand was still wrapped around me, it just wasn't moving and it was driving me crazy.

"NO. D-don't stop. Please, Hermione, don't stop, I'm sorry, I just-" 

But I didn't have to plead for long, Hermione had already flipped us over, so that she was on top and I no longer had any control. She rolled her hips a couple times, the only thing separating us was the thin material of her underwear. 

But it didn't take long at all and I could feel myself coming undone. My cock started twitching and she climbed off me, running her hands up and down me as I came down from my high.

With a final breath, Hermione chucked me a shirt to clean up with and snuggled up in my arms. "Goodnight Malfoy." She whispered. I felt a stab of pain in my chest at the mention of my last name, but she gave me a final kiss on my cheek and I smiled. 

"Goodnight Granger," I replied, drawing her closer to my chest. This was already one hell of a night, I was always in charge when it came to the bedroom and I never let girls sleep in my bed. It was always just fuck 'em and dump 'em. How did Granger slip past? And why am I so fine with it?


	13. Thirteen

(Hermione's POV)

I woke up from one of the best night sleeps I've ever had. It was like those times when I would spend the night with Ron. Mind you, this was before he became abusive. I sighed and snuggled closer to the warm body beside me.

Wait. 

I suddenly felt my face heat up and flashbacks of everything I did last night flooded my head. My eyes snapped open and I saw that Malfoy was still there, it wasn't a nightmare after all. I felt my heart rate speed up drastically when I saw the position I was in. Malfoy had one arm around my waist and the other was just above his head, while I had a leg in between his and my arms were draped around his neck. This situation was bad enough on its own, but what made it so much worse was the fact that under these sheets, Malfoy was completely naked. 

I untangled myself from the said blond and slid the green silk blanket off my body, doing everything in my power, not to look at him. When I was climbing off the edge of the bed, he groaned, rolled over and pulled me back down on top of him.

"It's too cold without you baby." He mumbled, half asleep. It was only moments later that his eyes shot open, face went red and he instantly took back what he said. "I-I mean, Morning Granger."

I stifled a laugh, laying my head down on his bare chest, breathing in his intoxicating natural scent. 

Draco's POV

Quite embarrassed, I corrected my mistake, but Granger only laughed and lay back down. Her chest was still pressed against mine but the majority of her body weight was resting on something else, something that was quite sensitive at the moment. I bit my lip to try and resist doing anything that I would regret later.

"What did I do?" She mumbled into my skin with a sigh, igniting my body with shivers. 

"Well, Granger, you started by wrapping your pretty little fingers around my d-" 

She cut me off by pressing her lips against mine, pulling away quickly afterward, leaving her cheeks tinged pink.

"Please don't say it." She groaned. "I still can't believe it actually happened."

"Oh, don't flatter yourself, you weren't that good," I scoffed. She lifted her head off my chest and raised a single eyebrow curiously.

"Really? Because from what I remember, you were begging me to touch you and I swear to Merlin, you nearly started crying when I stopped." I felt my face heat up and turned away from her knowing smirk, damn her, that was meant to be my thing.

"Piss off bookworm." I sneered. She made a sound of disbelief and rested her cheek against mine.

"You know its true, Malfoy." She whispered in my ear, pausing slightly to press her lips to my temple. It sent shivers straight to my arousal and my breathing became rougher. I wasted no time in flipping the both of us over. My lips hovering just a fraction away from hers.

"Prove it then, Hermione." I hissed. She quirked an eyebrow at the use of her first name.

"Maybe I will, Draco." She mumbled, arching up to press her lips against mine. If that didn't take me by surprise, then feeling Granger place her hands on my chest certainly did. She ran her hands down over my toned stomach and stopped abruptly at my pelvis. 

I growled into the kiss and she smirked against my mouth.

"Flustered Draco?" She whispered, pulling away and leaving a trail of kisses across my jawline and down my neck, pausing only momentarily to bite down softly on the side of my neck. I groaned and gave in to her torment. 

"Told you." She chuckled.

Her hands were still resting on my lower stomach and she used that as her leverage to push me away from her and slip off the bed.

"Where are you going?" I snapped, fighting to slow my racing heart. 

"To get ready for class," She said in an impatient tone, walking across the room to pick up her skirt. When she bent over, I let out a low wolf-whistle and she snapped her head around to look at me.

"You're insufferable Malfoy," She scoffed, balling up the skirt and throwing it as hard as she could. It hit me hard, right in the face too, and Granger just smirked at my baffled expression. 

"Whatever helps you sleep at night Granger," I said with a sneer, climbing out the other side of the bed. I walked over to my chest of drawers across the room from Hermione and started searching for my robes. 

She took a sharp intake of breath and cleared her throat awkwardly. When I turned to face the brunette witch, she had her hands over her eyes and a deep blush on her cheeks. 

"Whats wrong now Granger?" I drawled.

"Y-You're naked." She squeaked, clearly embarrassed.

"That didn't seem to bother you last night," I smirked, knowing that this was far from helping. 

"Prick," She hissed, storming out of my room and slamming the door behind her. I quickly threw on a pair of boxers, grabbed Hermione's skirt off the bed and walked out into the common room after her.

When I walked over to her door, it was slightly ajar and I stood outside it, contemplating whether I should go in or not. I saw through the gap that she was grabbing clothes out of her cupboard, her back to the door. 

I thought I may as well just go in.

Hermione's POV

After I stormed out of Malfoy's room, I started getting ready for class.

But just as I slid my underwear off my legs, the ferret decided to fling my door open and bound right in.

"Granger! You forgot your-" He stopped dead in his tracks and I could hear the sharp intake of breath behind me. Before I could scream at him, he lay my skirt down on my bed and turned and walked out, no comment, no insult, no nothing.

This morning was shaping up to be a very different one from most, not necessarily in a bad way, but not really in a good way either.

~~~

Once I had finished getting dressed and walked out into the common room, I saw that Malfoy was sitting on the couch, dressed, waiting for me. 

He stood up abruptly as soon as I had entered the room and approached me cautiously.

"I'm sorry for this morning Hermione, I was completely out of line and my actions were not respectful of your privacy." He said sincerely, so sincere that it was almost suspicious.

I narrowed my eyes at him and frowned slightly.

"Are you feeling okay Malfoy?" I questioned, reaching my hand up to feel his forehead. He caught my wrist millimetres from his face and smirked.

"You've got a cute ass for a bookworm, Granger." He winked, pressing a kiss to my cheek and turning to leave through the portrait.

When the reality of what he said kicked in, I was standing alone in the middle of my common room with butterflies in my stomach and a blush on my cheeks. 

Yep, that's what his apology was missing. That was the Draco Malfoy that we all knew, the Draco Malfoy that we all had to give an eye roll too.


	14. Fourteen

No one's POV

After Draco had left Hermione hanging in the common room, she grabbed her bag off the table and bolted out after him, muttering a colourful string of curse words as she went.

She didn't have to run for very long though, because Draco was waiting for her at the top of the staircase to the great hall, casually leaning against a wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Hermione slowed to a stop just in front of him and attempted to straighten up her uniform.

Draco watched her small action with a smirk.

"Whats wrong Granger?" He drawled as he pushed himself off the wall and took a step towards her. "Flustered?" He asked, putting a hand to her cheek.

She batted his hand away and took a breath to steady herself.

"No. I'm just annoyed." She huffed, stepping away from him. Draco only stepped closer, invading any personal space she had left.

Hermione was getting fed up with his close proximity once she was up against the wall, so she put both of her hands on his chest and attempted to push him away. Draco only smirked, pulled her hands off his chest and held them on the wall above her head.

Hermione wriggled around, trying to get her wrists out of his grip, but his hold on her hands was too strong.

"Annoyed with what?" He whispered in her ear, nibbling on the side of her neck teasingly.

"You." Hermione scoffed.

"Ouch, Granger. That hurts my feelings." He mumbled into her neck, igniting her skin with shivers.

"You'll live." She breathed, unable to resist the sigh that escaped her lips.

Draco, fully aware that it was his actions putting her in this state, nipped down her neck and smirked into her shoulder as he saw the mark that was visible just above her collarbone.

The mark he put there.

Images of last nights activities flashed in Draco's mind and he shuddered as he remembered it so clearly.

Hermione must've noticed his sudden change in demeanour because she stopped trying to escape his grip and instead focused on what was distracting him.

When Draco's flashbacks ceased, he pulled his face from Hermione curls and turned his head to face her.

When Draco's head re-emerged from Hermione's hair, she noticed, with only a little shock that his eyes were dark with lust.

"Draco are you alr-"

"We should be getting to breakfast." He said, clearing his throat to get rid of the evidential change in his tone.

Hermione nodded, unable to look away as Draco stared at her as if he was about to ravish her right then and there.

Mind you, she probably wouldn't complain if he did.

Neither Draco nor Hermione was in any real rush to leave each other's embrace. But the sound of footsteps and giggling schoolgirls was enough to make both of them snap out their daze.

Draco's grip on Hermione's wrists loosened and she pulled her arms back down to her chest while Draco took a slight step away from her.

The two had quickly shifted their positions just as a group of Slytherin girls had come bustling down the corridor.

They all stopped dead in their tracks once they saw Draco.

Astoria Greengrass, Millicent Bulstrode, Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass lingered behind as Pansy Parkinson walked up to Draco. Licking her lips she fluttered eyelashes and spoke in a low, seductive voice.

"Oh, Drakey, there you are." She purred. "When you snogged the Mudblood the other day, I was worried that she had done something to you. I guess you're telling her now that she needs to fuck off, right?" Pansy whispered, leaning in close and running her nails down his chest.

It was then that Draco heard an annoyed huff and quickly fading footsteps behind him and realised, with great annoyance, that Hermione had just run off.

Pansy bit her lip when Draco gave a growl, but she certainly wasn't prepared for the impact when Draco roughly shoved her away.

"Drakey!" She whined.

"Piss off Parkinson." He spat, turning and fleeing down the hall after a certain witch.

Pansy stood in the middle of the corridor and let out an aggravated shriek.

Draco was hers. Not some stupid Mudblood's.

She needed a plan.

~~~

When Hermione got to the Great Hall doors, she stopped momentarily to adjust her appearance and then pushed open the door and slipped inside the hall.

Hermione walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat herself down next to Ginny.

The redhead girl looked absolutely ecstatic and when she saw Hermione, her excitement only seemed to increase.

Hermione sat down next to the red-haired witch and started nibbling on some toast.

"Morning Gin." Hermione sighed.

"Are you okay 'Mione?" Ginny asked sincerely, all excitement ceasing. 

"Yeah. I guess. I honestly don't know anymore." Hermione whispered.

"Do you want to talk?" The young Weasley girl offered. Hermione felt a small smile tug at the corners of her mouth and gave a nod.

"Just maybe not in here," Hermione mumbled.

"Sure thing," Ginny said softly, wrapping her arms around Hermione in an affectionate side hug.

Hermione returned to nibbling her toast, her head swirling with so many different situations she was stuck in.

What were her feelings towards Draco?

Did she regret last night?

Is that something she wants to do again?

Was she actually jealous of Pansy this morning?

If so, why? It's not like she and Draco were dating or anything.

All these unanswered questions were bringing on a headache, and to top it all off, Draco just walked into the Great Hall. He caught several people's attention as he entered the hall, a lot of teacher's disapproving looks for being so late, but also various stares by students as he seemed to be quite out of breath as if he'd been running. 

Once he was in the hall, Draco made no action straight away to move to his house table. Instead, he stopped still as his eyes found Hermione's.

The two were watching each other across the room (confusing numerous students) and Hermione held the gaze for a moment but broke it off with a glare, turning back to Ginny.

What Hermione didn't see though was the pain that spread across Draco's features at her obvious anger towards him.

Ginny, however, was watching Draco quite intently as the emotion flickered on his face.

"So what's happened between you two?" Ginny spoke up from next to Hermione, "I could've sworn he looked heartbroken just then." She joked. 

Hermione's cheeks went a vibrant pink and Ginny's eyes opened wide.

"Oh, Merlin! Something did happen!" Ginny squealed, ignoring Hermione's frantic protests for her to be quiet.

Ginny grabbed the brunette witch by the wrist and dragged her out of the hall.

"So what was it? Did you snog him? Or did he snog you? Did you have sex? Because you need to remember 'Mione, that if you are fucking the ferret, make sure to use protection, I'm not ready to be an aunt yet." Ginny rambled once they were a fair distance from the Great Hall, releasing the poor girl's wrists.

Hermione's jaw dropped and Ginny chuckled.

"W-What!?" Hermione spluttered out.

"Whats wrong? Oh, you're not already pregnant are you!?" Ginny blurted, knitting her eyebrows together. "Because that might make things difficult."

"No Ginny I'm not pregnant and no, we have not had sex," Hermione confirmed.

"Yet." Ginny corrected.

"What?" Hermione asked, confused.

"You haven't had sex yet." She cleared up.

Hermione groaned and shook her head.

"Come off it Gin, we really didn't do anything, all it was was I stayed the night with him."

Ginny's jaw dropped in shock.

"He let you stay in his bed!?" She squealed in excitement.

"Yeah, what's the big deal with that?" Hermione questioned the Weasley girl.

"It's a Slytherin thing." She said. "It's almost like a tradition for them. The male Slytherin's have this rule that they don't ever sleep in the same bed with a female, Pureblood or not unless they plan to spend their life with that one specific person."

Hermione drew in a shuddering breath and furrowed her eyebrows.

"And how exactly do you know all that Gin?" Hermione questioned suspiciously.

"Nevermind that. The Draco Malfoy, asshole extraordinaire, wants you 'Mione!" Ginny giggled, eager to change the topic on her relationship with a certain Slytherin.

"I still don't know Ginny, it doesn't sound like something Malfoy would do. Falling for the enemy isn't really his style, he is more 'fuck and dump' and always taking the easy option in life." Hermione rambled on.

"Just give it a chance 'Mione." Ginny cut her off. "For me."

Hermione let out a sigh but agreed nevertheless.

~~~

Little did the two girls know, Lavender Brown, Pavarti Patil, and Romilda Vane had followed them out of the hall and listened in to that entire conversation.

Lavender was formulating a plan to destroy Hermione. 

The said witch was jealous that Ron still had feelings for Hermione and she thought that by spilling the beans to everyone that Hermione had slept with Draco Malfoy, Ron would look down on Hermione in disgust and see his true feelings for Lavender.

It would all work out perfectly in the end.

For her of course.

The dumb bookworm didn't deserve to be happy.

Let the games begin.


	15. Fifteen

No One's POV

Only a couple of days had passed since Lavender had begun forming her plan and so far, everything had been going smoothly. 

Lavender was one of those people that knew exactly which groups to tell if you wanted everyone to know some certain gossip, and so, because of her connections, word had already carried fast. 

It was at that point where almost the entire school knew about Hermione and Draco, but neither of the two or their groups of friends had actually heard it from someone else yet.

Pansy was waking to the Great Hall for lunch when she walked past a group of gossiping fourth years.

"Have you heard about the 'Big News'?" They gushed to one another. Pansy ignored it, everything to them was 'Big News'

"About Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy?" Another fourth year asked. This, however, caught Pansy's attention.

"What about them, I thought they were sworn enemies?" One child scoffed. She had to agree on that one, even Pansy loathed the bookworm.

"That must have all been fake though!"

"Yeah, she's right!"

"I heard that they were caught together, walking around in the corridors!"

"You idiot! They are Prefects! Of course, they were walking together! 'The big news' is something completely different."

"Yeah! I heard from Alex, who heard from Ellie, who heard from some seventh years, who heard fro-"

"Get to the bloody point!"

"Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy slept together the other night!" The child blurted.

"Oh, my!"

"That's something new!"

"Very interesting!"

Pansy's books slid out of her hands as she stopped dead in her tracks. She turned to look the girls, (who had become extremely intrigued with a cute, sixth-year boy who had just walked past) and screamed, ran down the corridor and burst into the bustling Great Hall.

Pansy rushed into the hall and stormed over to the Slytherin table, only stopping when she was right in front of Draco.

"I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME!" Pansy yelled, Draco winced at the volume of her voice. 

Some people looked over, most didn't really care about 'Parkinson's usual shit' though, and just carried on with their breakfast.

"Oh, for fuck's sake Pansy! When have I ever said that!?" He spat. Pansy just chose to ignore him.

"WHY HAVE YOU BEEN FOOLING AROUND WITH OTHER GIRLS!?" She sobbed, tears trickling down her cheeks.

"What are you talking about!?" He replied, unusually calm, on the edge of curiosity.

"YOU KNOW WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT!?"

"No, I really don't-"

"WELL HOW ABOUT I ASK EVERY ONE WHAT THEY THOUGHT ABOUT YOU SLEEPING WITH THE MUDBLOOD!?" For the people who didn't know there were gasps and whispers, but for the ones who did it was still quite a surprise to hear it put like that.

"How does everyone know about that!?" Draco's eyes flashed open wide and he scanned the hall.

He caught Hermione's eye's across the hall and she looked as if she was about to cry.

The Weasel, on the other hand, looked like he was about to murder the next person to interrupt him, Boy Wonder was pale as a ghost and the female ginger was just sitting there beaming.

"You can't hide anything in this castle!" She hissed. "So tell me Drakey, WHY DID YOU LET HER IN YOUR BED AND NOT ME!?" Pansy choked on a cry.

"I can't tell you," Draco said, standing up, keeping eye contact with Hermione, almost pleading her to trust him. "It's private."

"YOU HAVE TO TELL ME! I'M YOUR GIRLFRIEND!" The witch yelled. Draco cringed at the name. 

"I swear to Salazar Parkinson! You're not my girlfriend and you never will be!" Draco hissed. "So just piss off. I'm not going to tell you!"

"WHY NOT!?" She sobbed.

"BECAUSE IT IS NONE OF YOUR BLOODY BUSINESS!" He roared. Draco's outburst left his ears ringing. The hall had gone silent, waiting on Pansy's reaction. 

She was silent for a moment until an idea popped into her head.

"Well, how is your precious little sweetheart going to react when she finds out that you and I have an arranged marriage Drakey? So for however long, you plan to keep up this relationship, just remember that you're mine in the end." 

She didn't say it in anger, didn't even say it very loud either, but with the already silent room, everyone heard her as clear as day.

A strangled sob sounded from the front of the hall and all of Draco's attention was focus solely on that one person, no one else mattered to him at that point in time. He tore himself away from Pansy and ran across the hall to Hermione.

When the said witch saw Draco approaching her, she flung her hands out in front and attempted to push him away. 

Draco grabbed one of her wrists before her hand hit him in the face and he attempted to hold her still.

"Granger." He tried calmly, but she kept thrashing in his hold. "Gra-" She stepped on his foot and pulled her arm away. "Hermione!"

"What! What do you want from me! You want to use me again, don't you! You just wanted a quick fuck and I was the easiest option! Well, listen close Malfoy! You are full of bullshit and I'm done with you!" She finished her outburst with a heaved sigh as more tears started trickling down her pink cheeks.

His face fell drastically and he tried to reach out for her again.

"Hermione! Please listen!" He whispered.

"NO!" Hermione shouted, her voice breaking. "Stay away from me." She sobbed, twisting out of his reach and fleeing from the hall.

No one dared to move as everyone was too scared as to what Draco would do.

The said blond hadn't moved from where he was standing, as his face slowly contorted with rage. His hands balled into fists at his sides and his nose was flaring.

"Well, I honestly think it's for the best that she's gone, she was just another bookworm, probably a huge prude. There really couldn't have been much that was of any interest to you anyway Drakey." Pansy cooed from not too far behind him.

Just as she'd said that, Draco averted his gaze from the empty doorway around to her, whipping his wand out in the process.

"You're a real bitch, you know Parkinson," Draco growled dangerously, aiming his wand at her chest. 

"Oh, don't tell me you actually have feelings for the Mudblood Drakey," Pansy said with an eye roll. Draco let out a snarl and narrowed his eyes at the obnoxious witch. 

"Don't call her that!" He snapped, tightening his grip on his wand, his slowly knuckles turning white. Pansy's eyes lit up in amusement at him confirming her statement. 

"You do like her." Pansy gave a humourless laugh and scoffed.

"Hey Blaise, look how pathetic our 'Slytherin Prince' is. He's fallen in love with a Mudblood!"

"Pansy back off," Blaise warned in a low voice when he saw sparks at the end of Draco's wand.

"But seriously though, do you really think your father is going to be happy when he finds out?" She questioned mockingly. "I'm betting he'll attempt to kill her before the end of the year."

That was all it took. the mention of his father was what made Draco snap. 

"Stupefy!" He hissed. A flash of red light went flying out the end of Draco's wand but it never made it to it's intended target.

"Expelliarmus!" 

Draco's wand flew out of his hand and the flash of red light fizzled away. He looked around the hall for the caster and was quite shocked to see his wand resting in between a certain female Weasley's fingers.

"Nice catch Red." Blaise winked across the hall, Ginny blushed lightly and flipped him off nonchalantly. Harry made a silent mental note to ask about that later. "Draco, mate, you need to calm down," Blaise stated sternly, turning back around to face the blond.

"CALM DOWN!?" Draco heaved a breath, almost sobbing. "Granger was almost raped, Blaise! And Parkinson seems to think its okay to start making up bullshit about arranged marriages and now she's gone!"

"She's can't have gone too far. Just go find her." Blaise said sympathetically, patting Draco on the shoulder.

Draco swiftly pushed him away and sneered at all of the people who got in his way as he stalked over to the great hall's doors.

Harry stopped him before he could leave.

"I caused this mess, I'll get her." Draco snapped with a scowl.

"I'm not sure that's a good ide-"

"Piss off Potter! She won't listen to you and you know it. I said I'm getting her!" 

Harry was taken back by his anger and concern for Hermione but stepped aside to let Draco pass.

"Thanks, Malfoy!" Harry spoke quietly as Draco went past him.

"Go fuck yourself, Potter," Draco hissed back. Harry merely glared at him.

As soon as the Hall doors shut behind Draco, whispers broke out as everyone gushed and gossiped about this morning's recent events.

As Draco was speed-walking down a corridor, he looked out the window and saw a mop of brown hair sitting by the Black Lake. 

But she wasn't alone.

Hermione Granger was sitting on the grass, wrapped up in someone's arms.

And that someone just so happened to be Theodore Nott.

Draco felt his blood boil.


	16. Sixteen

Draco looked out the window and saw Hermione sitting by the Black Lake.

That would've been fine on its own. But she wasn't alone.

Hermione Granger was sitting on the grass, wrapped up in Theodore Nott's arms.

It made Draco's blood boil.

Was it with jealousy?

Who knew.

But one thing was for sure.

He hated it.

~~~

Theo's POV

I saw Granger go flying out of the hall after the Pansy incident and slipped out after her, making sure not to draw any attention to myself.

If I had to be honest, Hermione was an amazing and talented witch and the weasel was an idiot not to see that.

I wouldn't go as far as saying that I like her. No, she was Draco's girl, all the Slytherins knew that. Showing feelings for Granger was a death wish when we were younger. If anyone was found to have feelings for the witch and Draco found out, all hell would break loose.

He would continuously push away his anger and jealousy as disgust and hatred.

Draco always admitted to himself and everyone around him that he didn't like the bookworm, that she was 'just some dumb Mudblood', but we were smarter than that. We knew he was only saying that because his father was brainwashing him.

We knew that Draco was constantly trying to gain Hermione's attention because he fancied her, but apparently the only way he knew how to show that was by bullying her mercilessly.

Anyway, when I walked out to the lake where Hermione had previously run to, she was on the grass with her back against a tree.

She had her eyes closed but I could see her eyebrows furrowing in confusion even though I was a fair few meters away.

Getting closer I made my presence know and she looked up at me with tear stained cheeks and I felt bad for her.

"Do you want some company?" I asked softly. She nodded and I sat down next to her against the tree. The was a few moments of silence, not awkward just peaceful.

"Is what Pansy said true?" She sniffled. I let out a low chuckle and started picking at the grass.

"No. No way. Parkinson has a habit of making up bullshit. Besides, because of the war and the Deatheaters being sent to Azkaban, Draco and Pansy no longer have their fathers in their lives. They don't have anyone telling them what to do. So maybe at some point, there was an idea of an arranged marriage, but that is very far out of the picture now."

No one's POV

Theo finished his little rant and looked over to see Hemione crying again. He dropped the grass and wrapped his arms around her petite frame.

"What's wrong Granger?" He whispered softly, rubbing his hand up and down her back soothingly.

"He's an asshole." She mumbled into Theo's chest. The said wizard let out a chuckle.

"That is very true Granger. In my opinion, he's not good enough for you." Theo pulled her away so he could look into her eyes. "Hermione, you are beautiful, talented and probably the nicest person I know, if Draco can't see that then he's obviously blind." Theo has offered a small smile as Hermione threw her arms back around him.

"Thank you, Theo."

"Anything for you, biscuit." He said softly. Hermione cocked an eyebrow at the unusual nickname but he just hushed her.

Theo held Hermione against him until her breathing had evened out and she was no longer crying. But the moment of peace didn't last very long.

A set of footsteps could be heard approaching the two and Hermione pulled away from Theo to see who it was.

A mix of different emotions were playing on her features at the sight of Draco. Annoyance being the most prominent one, followed shortly by hatred, worry and discomfort.

Draco's cold glare softened slightly when he saw Hermione, but it came right back when he laid his eyes on Theo.

"Hermion-"

"What do you want Malfoy?" The irritated witch snapped at him.

"I came to apolog-"

"And I told you to stay away from me!" Hermione bit back. "Pansy may have been lying about your whole 'arranged marriage' bullshit, but you still used me, Malfoy." She accused, prodding him in the chest with her finger.

"I didn't use you, Hermion-"

"Lies! That is just another one of your pathetic lies! When will you get it, Malfoy? I. Hate. You."

She was right up in his face now and Draco felt that last statement hit him like a blow to the chest.

"Well if you hate me so much, why do you keep kissing me?" He growled.

"You're the one who starts them!" She exclaimed incredulously.

"Well, I never see you complaining." He hissed in exasperation.

"That's because I..." Hermione trailed off and shut her mouth with a snap. There really was no point in arguing with him. He was actually right for once.

"That's what I thought." Draco challenged with a sneer. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him.

"You don't seem to complain either, Malfoy." She whispered tauntingly. Draco felt himself smirk.

He leaned in further until their noses were almost touching and whispered in her ear.

"Well then. If you really hate me, Granger. Prove it." He mumbled. Hermione's eyes flared with annoyance, but she didn't pull away. "If you actually hated me, you're not going to let me kiss you."

"Who says I'm going to?" She countered. Draco didn't answer her, instead, he swiftly tangled one hand in Hermione's curls at the back of her head and pulled her lips to his. She let out a gasp and Draco slipped his tongue through her parted lips and she threw her arms around his neck.

Draco kissed her with such vigour and urgency that Hermione knew her lips would be bruised later. She whimpered when he nipped at her tongue and Draco responded by letting out a low groan and pulled her body flush up against his.

The two vaguely heard more footsteps approaching but blatantly ignored them.

There was a feminine gasp and then a couple male chuckles.

"Well, thank you for the show. Are you two done yet?" Theo interrupted. Draco reluctantly pulled away from Hermione's mouth and turned to glare at the other wizard.

Theo was clearly struggling to keep his face neutral at the sight of Draco's dishevelled hair and flushed cheeks.

Hermione untangled her hands from Draco's hair and shifted her attention to face their audience. Blaise stood there with a smirk on his face and Ginny was beaming at the pair. 

"You're a bloody prick, Nott." Draco scoffed.

"Really, Malfoy? If we didn't stop you, you probably would've been undressing each other by now." Ginny explained, praising herself and giving Hermione a wink, to which the brunette flushed at.

"Oh yeah, Weaslette? You mean like you and Zabini in the library the other night?" Draco mocked the red-headed witch with a sneer. Hermione gasped.

"Oh, Hermione, didn't you know? Your friend here is cheating on the chosen one with my best mate, how odd is that?" He said, sarcasm evident in his voice. Hermione slapped him on the shoulder and turned to Ginny.

"So, you and Blaise?" She asked softly. Ginny looked down ashamed.

"I'm really sorry 'Mione. I just- Harry doesn't care about me. It's all about his reputation and popularity. He never wants to do anything with me anymore and I-"

Hermione cut her off by wrapping her arms around the Weasley girl.

"It's okay Gin, I understand. Just promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"Make sure that when Harry finds out, he finds out from you."

A smile lit up on Ginny's face at Hermione's words.

"Yes, Hermione." She said. The two girls embraced once more and that just left the boys to talk.

"So, who told you about me and Red?" Blaise snapped at Draco.

"Oh, that's quite a funny story." The blond wizard chuckled. "I was looking for Granger and walked in on you two instead. When I saw who it was, I left. I didn't stay and watch mate, don't get any wrong ideas." Draco made a face of disgust and Theo lost it.

Blaise was still grumbling but Draco ignored him.

"Hey, would you two girls like to join us for some drinks later tonight?" Draco suggested. Hermione was quick to shake her head.

"No thank you, I'm not a fan of alcohol." She stated calmly. Draco looked over at Ginny in amusement.

"She's joking right?" He asked, Ginny shook her head and Draco was astonished. "Seriously Granger? Who doesn't like drinking."

"Me." She replied.

"Come on Hermione, it's Friday, there are no classes tomorrow." Draco persuaded.

"But we have an essay to write this weekend." She said matter-of-factly.

"Please, Biscuit," Theo begged.

Ginny sniggered at his choice of name. Where Blaise merely cocked an eyebrow.

"Weaslette, are you game?" Draco asked bluntly.

"I'm down if Hermione agrees." She replied.

The said brunette let out a sigh but agreed nonetheless.

"Fine." She huffed in annoyance.

Draco smirked.

This was going to be one hell of a night.


	17. Seventeen

(No one's POV)

When Hermione walked back into the Great Hall with Draco, the whispers had died down but they were still very much there. By now the school had seen and heard just about everything, this wasn't much different. There were still a few shocked faces, but not so much of a big fuss.

Hermione's gaze travelled around the hall and stopped briefly at the Gryffindor table. She saw that Lavender was shouting profanities at her little minions and that Ron was just sitting next to her, rolling his eyes.

When Hermione had gotten closer to the table, she could make out most of the obnoxiously loud conversation.

"You guys are fired!" Lavender screamed as she turned to Parvati and Romilda, "You were meant to make her life HELL, not make him more obsessed with her!"

"Oh, would you just Shut Up Lavender!" Ron hissed. "I honestly don't even know why I'm still dating you." He mumbled under his breath, earning a snicker from Hermione. Ron was clearly annoyed and fed-up with Lavender's behaviour and Harry was just ignoring his presence.

Speaking of the boy wonder, for almost the entire time Hermione had been back in the hall, he had kept his eyes glued to the witch with confusion playing on his features. Ron leaned over when Harry still wouldn't pay attention to him.

"Harry, what are you looking at?" He sighed. Following the boy's gaze, Harry heard a sharp intake of breath come from the redhead beside him when he saw what Harry was so transfixed on.

"Bloody hell, what's the snake done to her now!" Ron hissed.

Hermione was hand in hand with Draco as he walked her down the Gryffindor table, and at a closer look, both Harry and Ron could see, with much distaste, the pair had an odd tinge of pink to their cheeks. And it didn't take a genius to figure out where that came from.

"Ron. Stay." Harry mumbled when he saw the wizard draw his wand beside him.

Once they had walked down the length of the Gryffindor table to where the majority of the eighth years sat, Draco nudged her to the bench and ran a hand through his hair.

"Oi Malfoy! Getting action I see!" Seamus shouted from a few seats down. Draco sneered at him, snapping back a reply.

"It's probably more than you've gotten all year Finnigan. Jealous?" The blond leered. Seamus scowled.

"Grab some food and then come back to the common room. I need to talk to you." He said softly.

"Careful Hermione. He's probably making plans to dump you." Ron snorted ungracefully from beside Harry. 

"Oh, would you shut up already!" Ginny blurted with an eye roll. "Get over yourself Ron, she wants nothing to do with you." She snapped when Ron looked like was going to intervene. 

"Merlin Ginny, where did you come from?" Harry said with a chuckle.

Blaise gave Ginny a stern look from just behind her and she sighed. 

"Potter, come. we need to talk." She stated, already walking back down the table, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Harry got up and followed cautiously, mumbling to Draco as he went past.

"Treat her right ferret." The dark-haired wizard hisses. Draco only gave a twitch of the corner of his mouth in response, but it was enough for Harry.

Since Harry was gone, there was no one to hold Ron back, and so when Draco lowered Hermione onto the bench with a kiss to the cheek, Ron's temper exploded.

"Get the fuck away from her you evil piece of shit!" The redhead spat across the table, throwing himself up from his seat.

Draco took an instinctive step away and discreetly drew his wand. But McGonagall beat him to it.

"Mister Weasley, we will have none of that language in this school. Please leave the hall for the remainder of breakfast." She said in her airy voice, cloak billowing behind her as she walked across the hall. "And twenty points will be taken from Gryffindor for your disrespectful behaviour towards other students."

Ron narrowed his eyes at Draco but left the hall without much more of a fuss. McGonagall gave a kind smile to Draco as she walked back up to the teacher's table.

Draco gave a sigh and reminded Hermione to meet him before classes started and then left the hall with the retreating figure of Theo and Blaise.

~~~

Once Ginny had gone far enough away from the hall and was desperately fighting tears, she stopped abruptly and turned to face Harry.

"Gin. Wha-"

"You deserve someone better than me." She chocked out. Harry shook his head softly.

"I don't understand. You're amazing, you're everything I could ask for, you-"

"I'm breaking up with you." She said, no more than a whisper.

Seconds, which felt more like hours ticked by. Harry still hadn't responded. He took a breath and Ginny knew she couldn't stay.

"G-Ginny I-"

"I have to go." She mumbled, brushing past him as she left, not daring to look back because she knew it would only make her feel worse.

~~~

On the way back from the lake, Blaise had encouraged her to talk to Harry. She trusted him. But now she wasn't so sure. 

Don't get her wrong, she felt better knowing that she had broken things off with Harry, but now she was just filled with more guilt for not telling him why.

Ginny choked on more sobs as tears trickled down her cheeks, so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't realise someone was in front of her until she had walked right into them. 

As Ginny was mumbling hasty apologies through her sniffling, she realised who she had run into once he wrapped his arms around her and she smelt his familiar cologne.

"Breathe Red. It's gonna be okay." Blaise hushed, running a hand down her back soothingly.

And Merlin, she hoped he was right.


	18. Eighteen

(Hermione's POV)

I had lost track of time while eating my breakfast and when I actually realised how long I had been sitting there for, I remembered that Draco was still waiting.

So, after dashing out of the hall, and sending a hasty apology to a startled Neville, I was speeding down the corridors trying not to crash into anyone or anything. 

"Hippogriff," I said, out of breath once I finally reached the common room. Snape merely raised an eyebrow at me.

"Mister Malfoy is very anxious, Miss Granger, he might not be too pleased with you showing up late," Snape said with a smirk.

"Hippogriff," I repeated louder this time.

"You know, I can hear him pacing from out here and he sounds quite agitated." Snape drawled in a monotone voice.

"Oh for Merlin's sake. Hippogriff! Now let me in before I blast you off the wall." I snapped, fed up with the former professor's obnoxious behaviour.

Snape gave a sigh and rolled his eyes, but the portrait swung open anyway.

I stepped inside and looked around for Draco.

Sure enough, Snape was right. Draco had been pacing, except since he'd obviously noticed the portrait open, he was standing in the middle of the room with a smirk.

His intense stare was intimidating and I felt a shiver run down my back. Hesitantly, I took a few more steps into the room.

"Draco, I-"

"You're late." He mumbled. His voice was low and my legs quivered as I fought the urge to swoon. Draco noticed this and his eyes glazed over as a blush spread across my cheeks.

"I got distracted." I hushed, stepping back once he started to approach me.

We soon found ourselves in a similar position to one of our first kisses. He had me cornered up against the wall, our faces only millimetres from each other.

I tried stepping to the side to avoid him but his smirk twitched as he put an arm either side of my shoulders. 

"You're not getting away from me that easily, Granger. We still need to talk." He purred, nibbling on the shell of my ear.

"Then why can't we sit and talk like civilized people, Malfoy?" I said, as I ducked underneath one of his arms and walked over to the couch. He was quick to catch me though. Draco had managed to swiftly turn away from the wall and grab my wrist before I had even gotten five steps from him.

"Stop trying to run away." He growled, pushing my body back against the wall and pinning my arms above my head. The grip on my wrists wasn't necessarily tight enough to hurt, but it was too tight to pull away from.

"I'm not running away," I argued breathlessly, thrashing my arms in his hold. 

A growl rumbled in the back of his throat and he suddenly pressed his lips up against mine. His kiss was demanding and hungry and I tried to return it with the same amount of passion.

"We were interrupted down at the lake today. Do you want to continue from there?" He pulled away, whispering in my ear with a smirk. I shook my head and let out a sigh.

"No Draco. We have to get to class." I said, trying to wriggle out of his grasp.

"Granger. We both have a free period this morning." He said with a snicker. I felt heat flush on my cheeks and looked away from his piercing gaze. "For the smartest witch of her age, you're not all that bright sometimes," Draco said with a chuckle.

"Oh shove off, Malfoy." I pushed him away with a huff.

"Don't be like that, Hermione." He sighed, reaching out to pull me back.

"Draco!" I snapped, pulling away. "Stop doing this!" I blurted. 

"Doing what?" He spat, face forming a frown.

"This. The messing around. Acting as if nothing really matters. As if this isn't serious. As if we aren't serious." I looked away and heard Draco sigh.

"Hermione, I-"

"Why did you come to find me anyway?" I whispered.

Now here was the point where anyone with brains would know to say something like 'because I love you' or 'because you mean so much to me'. But no. What came out of Draco's mouth was the complete opposite.

"Because I felt sorry for you." He said.

~~~

No one's POV

It was as if the world came to a sudden stop.

Draco instantly regretted the words the second they left his lips.

He meant he felt sorry for how she would've felt after what Pansy said. But for some reason, those words didn't seem to form.

"You felt sorry for me!" She choked. 

Hermione was heartbroken. 

And Draco was to blame. 

When she turned away to leave, Draco called out to her.

"Grang-"

"No. It's too late now, Malfoy."

"Hermion-"

But he was silenced but the slam of the portrait.

He had messed up big time.


	19. Nineteen

Draco's POV

I had spent the entire day trying to get close enough to Hermione to apologise properly.

She had spent the entire day avoiding me.

When the last class for the day finished, she had raced out of the classroom before I could stop and talk to her.

When I got back to the common rooms, Hermione's bedroom door was shut and she was nowhere to be seen. I sat down on the couch with a huff, if I wait out in our common room, she might come down when Weaslette gets here.

I didn't want to admit it out loud, but I was pissed off. It was mainly because I had messed up and made Hermione believe that I was just leading her on for fun. And since she was avoiding me, all that anger and frustration has just built up all day.

I wanted, no, needed to explain myself to her though, and getting her out of her room was the first step.

So, gathering all of my non-existent Gryffindor courage, I walked up to her bedroom door and knocked lightly.

"Go away Malfoy." She hissed through the door.

"It's Ginny," I scoffed sarcastically.

"Piss off." She spat.

"Fine then. Be a bitch. See if I care, Granger!" I bit back, clearing my voice of any emotion.

As I was turning to walk away, her door was suddenly thrown open behind me.

"What is your problem, Malfoy?" Hermione's voice trembled. "First you act as if I meant something to you, then you say you felt sorry for me and now you're calling me a bitch. Make up your mind, Draco. What am I to you?"

I felt my heart ache at what I'd put her through. Swiftly turning back around, I stepped closer and pressed my lips against hers. It wasn't anything too dominating, but it was just enough for her to understand my message.

No one's POV

For a few moments, they were both so caught up in each other, that neither one heard the portrait swing open.

The youngest Weasley walked in and cleared her throat loudly to gain the attention of a pair of lovesick fools.

"Well, I see that you've kissed and made up." She rolled her eyes with a smile. "And Hermione I got your owl."

Ginny strolled over to Hermione's door frame (which currently had Malfoy in it) and roughly shoved him out of the way as if he were merely a used tissue.

"Excuse me, Malfoy. We have girl stuff to talk about." Ginny said, smirking as she pulled Hermione into her room and shut the door, quite aggressively in Draco's face.

Hermione's POV

When Ginny dragged me into my room, she sat me on the bed and demanded I explain what my distressing note was about.

I started from the start and told her everything about Cormac, and then about Theo and finally to what Draco had said earlier that day.

She sat there the whole time, listening intently, never interrupting once. When I had finished, she took both of my hands in her own and told me how she was always there for me and also gave me advice on how to deal with the git's drastic mood swings.

No one's POV

Draco was pacing the kitchen when he heard the portrait swing open again. This time, it was Blaise and Theo, holding what looked to be a couple bottles of Firewiskey.

"Are you just gonna stand there all day? Or are you actually coming in?" He said casually once they showed no signs of actually moving from the portrait.

"Oh, right." Sometimes these two can be quite dense.

"Where's Bookworm?" Blaise pestered, placing the bottles on the kitchen bench.

"In her room with Weaslette, refusing to talk to me!" Draco said, throwing his arms up in an attempt to show the dramatics of the situation.

Theo simply rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath that sounded very much like 'bloody women'.

Draco turned to his mates and offered to grab glasses so that they can start on the drinks.

They had just finished their first round of shots when Ginny came thundering out of Hermione's room.

"Does she want to talk to m-"

"No Draco, she wants to talk to Nott." Ginny hushed.

Draco sat back down with a huff. "Fucking fine then."

Theo sauntered up to her door, knocked and slipped inside. He walked in and plonked himself down on her bed.

"What can I do for you biscuit?" He asked softly. Hermione let a small smile on her face.

"Well, you know how you, Blaise and Ginny caught us out by the lake today?"

"Yeah." He nodded for her to continue.

"Well, Draco told me earlier, that he only came to find me because he felt sorry for me." Hermione sighed.

"That does sound like something Draco would say. But not for that context exactly." Hermione looked at Theo curiously. "Draco has always had trouble expressing emotions. If he had said that he felt sorry for you. He would've meant that he felt sorry for the circumstances you happened to be a part of."

Hermione's eyes lit up like a lightbulb.

"You should probably just talk to him. Work things out."

"I can't do that." She sighed.

"Why not?"

"Because he's 'Draco Malfoy', we would never be able to be together anyway. I'm a Mudblood." Hermione tried to remind him.

Tears started trickling down her face and Theo put his hands on her cheeks to wipe them away.

"Don't. Ever. Call yourself that!" He hissed, borderline threatening. Hermione stopped crying to look into his eyes. Theo took a steady breath.

"Hermione. You are an amazing person, with incredible qualities and you are one of the most beautiful girls I have ever met. I would've asked you out years ago, Pure Blood or not. But, I don't know if I should tell you this, Draco has had a... Crush... On you for about... Five? years now. Ever since you punched him in the face. I reckon you actually knocked some sense into him when you broke his nose that day."

Theo finished with a smirk, watching all of Hermione's different emotions play on her features.

"Now come on, enough chitter-chatter we brought alcohol and I would very much like some at the moment." He whispered, in a child-like manner.

Theo stood up and made his way to the door but Hermione grabbed his sleeve.

"Theo, wait." He turned around to her and raised his eyebrows in question. Hermione let go of his shirt and stood on her tip-toes, he was a lot taller than her. She leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you." She mumbled lazily, watching a blush take over Theo's cheeks.

"It was no problem, Biscuit." He smiled softly.


	20. Twenty

Hermione walked out of her dorm room and stayed quite close to Theo. To any random passerby, it would've looked like two were even a couple. And it pissed Draco off to no end that she didn't even bat him an eyelash. 

Hermione did actually detach herself from Theo, only when Ginny came in for a hug though. Draco tried to do the same thing, but the witch swerved. He shot her a funny look but she simply made her way to the couch, the redhead following swiftly behind her.

"What happened in there?" Draco snapped at Theo.

"We talked," Theo replied blankly. Draco narrowed his eyes.

"That's it? All you did was talk?" The blond asked, dumbfounded.

"Well, did you want them to fuck?" Blaise butted in.

Draco whacked him on the head for that.

"So what do I do?" Draco asked.

"Apologise."

"Makeup sex."

Theo and Blaise answered sequentially. 

~~~

"What should I do Ginny?" Hermione sighed from where she sat against the armrest of the couch, legs outstretched.

"If I was you, I would find a way to make him jealous and then he'd have to apologise." The redhead replied from her seat on the floor.

"And what in Merlin's name is your plan for that?" Hermione scoffed. "I am terrible at flirting." 

A malicious grin formed on Ginny's face.

"I think it's time for a harmless game of truth or dare."

~~~

The five had all seated themselves down on the carpet, drinks surrounded the group. Blaise started the game off.

"Draco?"

"Truth."

"Playing safe I see. Hmm, who'd you lose your virginity to?" 

Draco made a gagging noise and screwed up his face.

"Parkinson." He spat with so hate and disgust.

"Fucking knew it." Theo hissed. Draco took a gulp of his drink and rolled his eyes.

"Weaslette?"

"Dare." She answered boldly. The other two boys sniggered.

Many ideas ran through Draco's head. One stuck out more than the others though.

"Dye your hair blue for the rest of the night."

Ginny let out a gasp but tapped her head anyway.

"I'm going to get you for that." She hissed. Draco let a smirk play on his features and patiently waited for Ginny to call on his name. 

"Hermione." She said, sickly sweet. Draco quickly went from cocky to confused.

"Pass," Hermione answered hastily.

"You can't pass."

"Fine, dare."

"Makeout with Theo." Ginny looked Draco dead in the eyes as she said it, watching the rage take over his usually cool demeanour.

Hermione gave a sheepish smile as she looked over at Theo. He returned it and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Don't stress biscuit." He mumbled, pressing his lips to hers. 

It only lasted about half a minute, but to Draco, it felt like half an hour.

Hermione wiped her lip and turned back to the game. 

"Blaise."

"Truth."

"Who do you hate the most?" 

Both girls were expecting him to say Ron or Harry, but his answer actually shocked them.

"Dean Thomas."

"Why?" They both exclaimed. Blaise shrugged his shoulders and sighed as if it were obvious.

"He flirts with me a bit too much." 

Hermione was confused.

"But I thought Dean was-"

"Straight? No. He's Bi." Ginny blurted.

"Aw, that's why he and Seamus are always so cute." Hermione laughed.

"For Merlin's sake, move on already." Draco snapped.

"Alright, then Draco, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Seven minutes in heaven. With Granger."

"I'm going to murder you in your sleep Blaise." Hermione hissed.

He merely blew a kiss across the room.

When Hermione wasn't looking Blaise mouthed the words 'makeup sex' while Theo whispered 'apologise'.

Draco rolled his eyes while standing up and following Hermione to the broom closet in the hallway. 

Neither of the two realised how badly they'd been set up. 

Neither of them noticed the mischevious looks coming from the other three. 

Until it was too late and the door was locked behind them.

"I think we'll just leave them there until tomorrow." Blaise snickered, giving Ginny a peck on the cheek.


End file.
